Fort Apollonia

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Fort Apollonia
Part of British Gold Coast
Fort Apollonia
Coordinates	5°00′00″N 2°38′42″W / 5.00°N 2.645°W / 5.00; -2.645
Site information
Open to the public	Yes
Site history
Built	1768 (1768)
Garrison information
Occupants	Britain (1768-1868) Netherlands (1868-1872)

Fort Apollonia is a fort in Beyin, Ghana. The name Apollonia was given to the area by a Portuguese explorer who sighted the place on the Feast of Saint Apollonia, 9 February.^[1]

History[]

The Swedes established a trading post at Apollona as part of the Swedish Gold Coast between 1655-1657. In 1691, a British trading post was erected at this site, which between 1768 and 1770 was extended into a fort.

After the abolition of slave trade, the fort was abandoned in 1819, but it was again occupied from 1836 onward.

The fort was transferred to the Dutch as part of a large trade of forts between Britain and the Netherlands in 1868, on which occasion it was renamed Fort Willem III, after King William III of the Netherlands. Four years later, however, on 6 April 1872, the fort was, along with the entire Dutch Gold Coast, again transferred to the United Kingdom, as per the Gold Coast treaty of 1871.

Current Situation[]

The British bombarded the fort in 1873 on the attack of Beyin on account of its coalition with the Ashantis. It was rehabilitated in 1962 and completed in 1968 by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.

Fort Apollonia was opened in 2010.^[2]

Notes[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Apollonia (Ghana).