The beautiful Elmina castle.
Ok, this page is mainly for the pictures of first Elmina and then Cape Coast castles. These castles, althuogh used to trade many other things are remembered as holding and selling places for African slaves to be shipped worldwide. It is hard to believe what the slave holding chambers looked like and I am sure that history did not accurately record and my mind cannot percieve what went on in them.
This was the first castle that we visited and it was very impressive. We had a full tour and got to know a lot about it, as (opposed to Cape Coast).
The beautiful Elmina castle.
Taken from the roof, in the center of this picture is the governor's balcony.
This is the female slave dungeon. As many women as would fit were shoved in this room and left for 3 months to wait for ships to take them away (and to kill off the weak).
I took this picture off the roof of Elmina. The area is still a trading center.
We had little time visiting here but it had impact on us nonetheless. This castle was much less renovated so the difference in it being much more harsh and ugly may be due to that. Of course, it might not. This castle probably supplied American slaves in a much greater numbers than Elmina.
A slave cell.
Female slave dungeon. This place was almost completely dark when I took the picture- the only light was from my flash and a tiny bit coming from the ventilation holes.
This is a picture of the difference that existed between the slave and non-slave world. This picture was taken from just outside of the previously-mentioned dungeon towards the main (traders') area of the castle.