Fort Amsterdam

Fort Amsterdam sits on a low hill above the fishing village of Abandze, built by the English between 1638 and 1645 as Fort Kormantin, and taken by the Dutch in 1665 during one of the Anglo-Dutch wars, after which it was rebuilt and renamed. The name Kormantin travelled with the people shipped from here and survives in the Caribbean as Coromantee, a term used in Jamaica and elsewhere for enslaved people from this part of the coast. The fort is partly ruined, with walls, bastions and vaulted rooms standing and other sections collapsed, and the hilltop position gives a view along the shore in both directions. It is part of the World Heritage inscription on the Ghanaian forts.

History

The English built the fort between 1638 and 1645 as Fort Cormantin, and in 1665 Admiral Michiel de Ruyter of the Dutch West India Company captured it in retaliation for English attacks on Dutch forts the year before; it then belonged to the Dutch Gold Coast until it was traded to Britain in 1868. In 1782, during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, the British captain Thomas Shirley took it along with other Dutch forts on the coast, and in 1811 the people of Anomabo, allies of the British, attacked it and left it in ruins; it stood empty until the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board restored it in 1951, and in 1979 it was inscribed with Ghana's other forts and castles as a World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Fort Amsterdam, Ghana).

What's there

• The ruined walls - standing bastions with collapsed sections between.
• Vaulted rooms - the surviving chambers within the structure.
• The hilltop position - the view along the coast from the fort.
• Abandze village - the fishing settlement below the hill.

When to go

November to March for the dry season. Mornings are cooler for the walk up the hill. The site keeps daytime hours with a caretaker guide.

What to expect

Much of the fort is ruined and unstable, and access to some areas is restricted or unsafe. Interpretation is minimal and depends on the caretaker. The approach track is rough. There are no facilities on site.

Nearby

Fort William at Anomabo lies west; Cape Coast is further along the coast.

Key facts