The church was built directly above the women’s dungeon. While enslaved Africans suffered in the darkness below, European traders, soldiers, and clergy conducted worship services, read scriptures, and sang hymns in the chapel above, indifferent, to the horrors beneath.
Elmina Castle, officially known as St. George’s Castle, stands on the rocky Atlantic coast of present‑day Ghana as one of the most haunting monuments to the transatlantic slave trade. Constructed in 1482 by Portuguese traders, it is the oldest surviving European-built structure south of the Sahara and one of the first permanent European footholds on the West African coast.
Originally designed to protect and facilitate Portugal’s lucrative trade in gold and other commodities, the castle’s purpose shifted drastically over time, eventually becoming one of the most notorious holding points for enslaved Africans destined for the Americas.
The Portuguese hold over Elmina ended in 1637 when the Dutch West India Company launched a military campaign and captured the fortress. Under Dutch control, Elmina was expanded and strengthened, with a clear focus on maximizing its role in the slave trade. The castle became a hub where enslaved Africans were held for weeks or months in darkness, filth, and fear, often before being loaded onto ships bound for the New World. Thousands of men, women, and children passed through Elmina, and many never survived the journey from the dungeons to the ships.
For decades, the castle served as a fortified warehouse and trading center where gold, ivory, and other goods were exchanged with European merchants.
By the 16th century, however, the transatlantic slave trade had gained momentum and the castle’s purpose shifted drastically over time, eventually becoming one of the most notorious holding points for enslaved Africans destined for the America. Portuguese traders began capturing or purchasing enslaved Africans from the hinterlands and holding them in the castle’s dungeons, often for months at a time, before sending them across the Atlantic. The castle’s strategic location and fortified design made it an ideal hub for the forced trade in human lives.
The growing wealth and strategic importance of Elmina did not go unnoticed by other European powers. Rival nations sought to control the castle to benefit from its trade in gold and enslaved Africans, seeing it as a prize worth conquering. Its significance made it not only a commercial center but also a symbol of European dominance on the West African coast.
This struggle for control reached its peak in 1637, when the Dutch West India Company launched a military campaign against the fort. After a successful siege, the Dutch captured Elmina Castle and made it the heart of their Gold Coast operations. They expanded and reinforced the structure, improving its defenses and adapting it further for the growing transatlantic slave trade, cementing its place in history as one of the most infamous sites of human suffering.
Under Dutch rule, Elmina Castle became one of the busiest points in the Atlantic slave trade. Enslaved Africans were brought from across West Africa, held in cramped and filthy dungeons, and then transported to the Americas. Some captives spent weeks or even months underground, waiting for ships. Historical records estimate that thousands of Africans passed through Elmina over the centuries, many of them dying from disease, malnutrition, or abuse before they even set foot on a slave ship.
The dungeons at Elmina Castle were carved into the thick stone walls and lower levels of the fort. They were dark, airless, and overcrowded, often holding hundreds of men, women, and children at once. Captives were chained together, forced to sit or stand in their own waste, and given minimal food or water. The floors were often layered with urine, feces, vomit, and blood, creating a suffocating environment in which disease spread rapidly.
The castle had separate dungeons for men and women. The female dungeon, in particular, was notorious for being overcrowded. Women and children were packed tightly, sometimes in groups of 200 or more, with barely enough room to lie down. The smell, darkness, and constant fear of abuse or death created a hellish environment that left long-lasting trauma for survivors.
The most haunting feature of Elmina Castle is the Dutch Reformed Church chapel built directly above the women’s dungeon. While enslaved Africans suffered in the darkness below, European traders, soldiers, and clergy conducted worship services, read scriptures, and sang hymns in the chapel above.
Above the entrance, a verse from Psalm 132 declared Zion as “the Lord’s resting place,” an ironic and chilling contrast to the suffering happening below. The dungeon’s ventilation was sometimes linked to the castle’s cannon magazine, so smoke from cannon practice or fires could seep into the cells, making life even harsher for the captives.
Today, tour guides often point out the wicked irony of the castle’s design. People in the chapel above could hear the cries and suffering of those trapped in the dungeons below, yet worship and religious ceremonies went on as if nothing was happening.
After being held in the dungeon, the captives were forced to walk through the castle to the famous “Door of No Return.” This gate, opening out to the sea, was where enslaved Africans were loaded onto ships bound for the Americas. For most, it was their last step on African soil, marking the beginning of a life filled with forced labor, suffering, and separation from their families.
The dungeons, church, and shipping areas show just how organized and methodical the slave trade was. At Elmina, religion and business existed side by side: people prayed and held services above, while below, countless Africans suffered, and profits were made from their pain.
Later History and Preservation
The Dutch abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in 1814 reduced Elmina Castle’s role as a slave depot, though illegal trade continued in smaller numbers. In 1872, the Netherlands ceded the Gold Coast, including Elmina, to the British. The castle then served administrative and military purposes under colonial rule. Following Ghana’s independence in 1957, Elmina Castle was preserved as a national museum and later designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Today, visitors to Elmina Castle can walk through the dungeons, explore the corridors once used for auctions and confinement, and stand in the chapel that looms above the dungeon. The castle is a powerful symbol of the cruelty of the slave trade and the moral contradictions of European colonialism, where religion, commerce, and human suffering intersected in stark and unforgettable ways.
Sources:
https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/5015
https://dependency.blog/whose-prayers-did-god-hear
https://www.witnesstreeinstitute.org/blog-2023/confronting-the-heartbreaking-truth-at-elmina-castle
