Fort Patience

Fort Patience, known in Dutch as Fort Lijdzaamheid (spelled Fort Leydsaemheyt in the 17th century), is a Dutch-built fort at Apam in the Central Region of Ghana. It stands on a craggy promontory just south of the township, overlooking Apam's fishing harbour to the north and the Gulf of Guinea coast to the south, east and west. The site lies in Gomoa West District, at roughly 5.286°N, 0.728°W — feature coordinates for the fort itself rather than a marked visitor entrance.

The fort began as a stone trading lodge built in 1697 at the request of the King of Acron, with whom the Dutch held a treaty. The site sat between the Fante and Agona kingdoms, who were allied with the British, and the Dutch West India Company consented only on condition of minimal cost. Because the Acron repeatedly threatened expulsion unless the fortifications were extended, completion took five years — the origin of the name "Patience." The original structure was a small two-storey stone lodge; between 1701 and 1721 the Dutch added demi-bastions on the northwest and southeast, and by 1721 it had become a defensive fortification. Two large service yards south of the main building included kitchens and the "Orange Hall," used for receptions or palavers. In 1782, during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War, Captain Thomas Shirley's squadron captured the fort, along with other Dutch forts; it was returned to the Dutch under the Treaty of Paris in 1784 and ceded to the British in 1868. It has since served as a police station and a post office, and is currently used as a rest house.

Fort Patience is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List (ref 34-003) as part of Forts and Castles, Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions, listed in 1979. It is managed by the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board.

Published visiting hours are 9:00am to 4:30pm, with no days-of-week or seasonal variation stated. Entrance fees published by the GMMB, reviewed in February 2013, are GH¢5.00 for Ghanaian adults, GH¢2.00 for tertiary students with ID, GH¢1.00 for students, GH¢0.50 for pupils from primary to JHS3, USD 10.00 (or cedi equivalent) for adult foreigners, USD 7.00 for foreign students with ID, and USD 2.00 for foreign children. Fees and hours may have changed since publication and should be confirmed before travelling. No site-specific phone number or on-site contact was found; the published contact details are the GMMB head office at 2 Barnes Road, Adabraka, Accra (P.O. Box GP 3343, Accra), telephone +233-302 221633/221635, fax +233-302 222401, email [email protected].