非洲加纳：埃米尔纳城堡

特意将这张作为第一个图片，工作锻炼出的肌肉与健身房的不一样，更结实，更有质感。

自愿呆在家里，不能帮忙，但也不能添乱。

闲来无事，就看看照片，每一张都是满满的故事。那些人们，看似悠闲，但其实都在为生活忙碌着，心中期盼着能多打一些鱼，多卖一些货。生活，真的不容易啊！

记得桥下河里的水臭气熏天，无法呼吸，人多了，难免啊！

这个人不知道在叫着什么，看着有点愤怒。

椰树，沙滩，特别喜欢。

这艘船应该是打渔的，有些是供游客使用的。

不知为啥，在这样的地方发呆，几个月都不会腻。

喜欢海边，很多人都是如此吧。

城堡在小山丘的顶部，环绕的商圈卖什么的都有，还有很多头顶商品的小贩。

在这样的地方懒散，该是多么惬意啊。

椰树，大海，多美啊！

这样的地方，溜达上一天也不会累，可惜没有那么多时间。

这些船，多数都是为游客服务的。

孩子们什么时候都是如此开心，所以才会不想长大。但不行啊，必须长大。

Elmina Castle and its DarkHistory 

of Enslavement, Torture, and Death

Elmina Castle is a white-washed Medieval Castle onthe coast of Ghana. It was the first – and for many centuries – thelargest, European building constructed in tropical Africa. Yet itsgrandeur, as well as its picturesque surroundings with blue skies,sandy beaches, and tropical palms, disguise a dark history – ElminaCastle was the last place that thousands of African slaves wouldever see of their homeland. Many horrors transpired within thewalls of the fortress, which have never been erased bytime.

The beginning of Elmina Castle

Located on the western coast of present-day Ghana(the former gold coast), the town of Elmina is about 13 km (8miles) from the city of Cape Coast. A region rich in gold and ivoryresources, the area was home to 30 or so “slave forts” concentratedalong the coast, and was the first European slave-trading post insub-Saharan Africa.  These fortified castles werebuilt between 1482 and 1786 by numerous traders including thePortuguese, Swedish, English, Danish, andDutch. 

Between 1482 and 1486, the Portuguese constructedwhat became known as Elmina Castle, also called St George’s Castle.One of the main purposes of Elmina Castle was to give support toship captains by providing their vessels with a secure harbor. Theoutposts were heavily armed against assault from the sea, butinterestingly, not so much from attacks inland. An assault fromother European empires, including pirates, was deemed more likelythan those by local Africans. To fend off such attacks from thesea, cannons were used, whereas light gunfire was usually enough tocounter an assault from the interior.

Jean Barbot, who authored the book, Description of theCoast of North and South Guinea (1732), visited Elmina Castle in1682 and gave this eye witness account:

“This castle has justly become famous for beautyand strength, having no equal on all the coasts of Guinea. Builtsquare with very high walls of dark brown stone so very firm thatit may be said to be cannon-proof. On the land side, it has twocanals always furnished with rain or fresh water sufficient for theuse of the garrison and ships-canals cut in the rock by thePortuguese (by blowing up the rock little by little with gun powder). The warehouses either for goods or provisions are very largelyand stately always well furnished.”

It is said that European explorers who heard of theriches of West Africa through traders traveling through the areamade several unsuccessful voyages to reachElmina.  They were either unable to pass throughthe sandy bars or were so scared of malaria that they did not land.However, not put off by the dangers, Portuguese explorer Diogo deAzambuja made it to the West African coast in 1471, and landed at aspot named “La-Mine”. It was he who would later build ElminaCastle.

The Later Years of Elmina Castle

Although it was originally erected to protect thegold trade, following its capture by the Dutch in 1637, ElminaCastle came to serve the Dutch slave trade with Brazil and theCaribbean. The castle later developed as a point on the infamousslave triangle transporting human cargo to America and theCaribbean, as well as raw materials, such as cotton and rubber, toBritain, and manufactured goods, such as clothing and weaponry,back to the West Coast of Africa.

Under the auspices of the Dutch West Indies Company,around 30,000 slaves a year passed through Elmina until 1814 whenthe Dutch slave trade was abolished. Ceded to the British in 1872,Elmina Castle was rarely in use until Ghana’s independence from theBritain in 1957.  Thereafter, it became a trainingcentre for Ghanaian police recruits and even a school for a shortwhile, before being converted into a historicalmuseum.

Life and Death at Elmina Castle during the SlaveTrade

The days of the slave trade may be long gone, butthe interior of the castle is still a haunting reminder of thepast.