Barbot presents himself to the King of Sestro, 1681

Jean Barbot's writings on the West African slave trade.

Jean (John) Barbot described Elmina in 1682: "This castle has justly become famous for beauty and strength, having no equal on all the coasts of Guinea. Built square with very high walls of dark brown stone so very firm that it may be said to be cannon-proof. On the land side it has two canals always furnished with rain or fresh water sufficient for the use of the garrison and the ships - canals cut in the rock by the Portuguese (by blowing up the rock little by little with gunpowder). The warehouses either for goods or provisions are very largely and stately always well furnished." http://www.ama.africatoday.com/elmina.htm

Portuguese Gold Coast Expedition

"Commander Diogo de Azambuja arrived in Elmina in 1482. He sailed with an expedition of 10 caravels, 500 soldiers and servants, and 100 masons, carpenters, and craftsmen. The ships carried precut stone for the castle's foundations, arches, and windows. The precut stone from Portugal and quarried Elminian sandstone were used to erect a rectangular enclosure at the eastern end of the Elmina peninsula. Although modified later by Dutch and British additions, the basic plan still conforms to the later Portuguese fortification. Some Portuguese elements are still readily discernible, including the Portuguese church in the central courtyard, remodeled by the Dutch and used as a warehouse and soldier's mess." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.21)

Rui de Pina's description of the founding of Elmina Castle by the Portuguese in 1482: "The surround of the castle was forthwith begun, for which it was necessary to demolish some houses of the negroes, and this they and their women consented easily without taking offense in return for large reparations and the gifts which were given to them." (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.47)

Joao de Barros chronicled: "When the masons began to break up some rocks overlooking the sea, near the place selected for the foundations of the fort, the blacks, not being able to tolerate such an injury as was being done to that sacred spot which they worshipped as God, rose up in a fury..." However, the outraged residents were pacified with gifts from the Portuguese. (DeCorse, Christopher R., An Archaelogy of Elmina, 2001, p.181)

"The Portuguese account of this affair says that Azambuja, who was in command, managed to buy himself out of the fighting which then ensued and that, 'the work was pressed on so fast that within 20 days the walls of the fortress were built up to their full height, as so was the tower....' After this Azambuja remained 'in the castle for two years and seven months, during which he set up a gallows and a pillory and made other ordinances and agreements with the Negroes to the great honor and service of the king of Portugal." (Basil Davidson, Africa in History, Touchstone, New York, 1966, 1995, p.203)

"During the period 1550-1637, the Portuguese rebuilt the castle's northern and western corners, the great courtyard and the northern bastion. In the Dutch period, the Portuguese church was turned into an auction hall, a new Dutch chapel was built and much rebuilding took place, especially in the north and west bastions and the riverside yard....Around 1774, when the Dutch completed the castle reconstruction and consolidation, the total habitable accommodation within its wall was 3,950 m2, including new buildings in the large riverside yard (500 metres square) which, according to Dutch company soldier Michael Hemmersam, were specially put up for rearing civet cats whose odorous secretions were twice weekly extracted for the perfume industry so vital "in those times of little washing." (Kwesi Anquandah, Castles & Forts of Ghana, Ghana Museums & Monuments Board, 1999, p.60-61)

The lay out of the today’s Castle is the same, more or less, of the Dutch conquest in 1637. Outside the fort is still well preserved the Dutch Reformed church built at the end of the Dutch rule. Very little of the early Portuguese castle is now visible, the only portion which has remained intact is the cistern that dated from 1482. http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/6497/ghana.html

"The Dutch imported their own bricks from Holland for vaulting, archways, stairs and sundials; they also brought out to the Gulf of Guinea things equally necessary to them - their own atmosphere and their own style." (John Pope-Hennessy, Sins of the Fathers, p.73)