Fort San Sebastian

Fort San Sebastian stands at Shama on the coast of Ghana's Western Region, within an area now occupied by a small fishing village. The Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB) describes it as Ghana's third oldest fortification, built by the Portuguese between 1520 and 1526, originally to deter English sailors interfering in Shama trade. It has been described as a small-scale copy of St. George's Castle and appears on Di Castaldi's Venetian map of 1564.

The fort changed hands repeatedly. When the Dutch took over in 1638 it was a ruin, and major Dutch renovation works between 1640 and 1643 substantially expanded the structure. Dutch West Indian records reveal some trade in gold and slaves, but by 1705 the Dutch West India Company considered it served mainly as a source of fuel wood and water with no trade activity. It was ceded to the British in 1872 and rehabilitated in 1957.

For visitors, the fort's significance is largely historical. It is a National Monument under National Monuments Instrument EI 42, 1972, and forms part of the UNESCO-listed Forts and Castles of Ghana serial property, inscribed in 1979 alongside other Ghanaian castles for its testimony to European trade, colonisation and exploitation. The Zamani Project documented the fort in 2013 with terrestrial 3D laser scanning, in partnership with GMMB.

Practical details are limited. GMMB lists opening hours of 9:00am to 4:30pm. Published GMMB fees, reviewed in February 2013, were GH¢0.50 for primary to JHS3 pupils, GH¢1.00 for SHS students, GH¢2.00 for tertiary students with ID, GH¢5.00 for Ghanaian adults, USD 2.00 for foreign children, USD 7.00 for foreign students with ID, and USD 10.00 for adult foreigners, or the cedi equivalent. These figures are old and should be confirmed before travel.

The fort is in Shama, Western Region, at approximately 5.0108°N, 1.6292°W. GMMB's Central and Western Regions office is at Cape Coast Castle, Cape Coast, telephone +233-3321 32529. On-site facilities, guided tours, accessibility and current conditions are not documented in the available sources.