Cape Coast Castle built

1652 CE.

Shown on the map at 5.104°, -1.241°.

Cape Coast Castle (Swedish: Carolusborg) is one of about forty "slave castles", or large commercial forts, built on the Gold Coast of West Africa (now Ghana) by European traders. Cape Coast Castle is located in the Central Region of Ghana. It was originally a Portuguese "feitoria" or trading post, established in 1555, which was named Cabo Corso, meaning "Short Cape." In 1653, a timber fort was constructed by the Swedish Africa Company. The fort originally was named Carolusborg after Charles X Gustav and was built as a center for timber and gold trade. In the 18th century, its dungeons were used in the Atlantic slave trade. Other Ghanaian slave castles include Elmina Castle and Fort Christiansborg. They were used to harbor enslaved Africans before they were loaded onto ships and sold in the Americas, especially the Caribbean. This "gate of no return" was the last stop before crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

Text from the Wikipedia article Cape Coast Castle, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Everything else in 1652 CE

HistoryLayer draws the world as it was in any year from 123,000 BCE to 2026. Move the slider and the borders redraw for that year; the map carries 23,890 events, 12,790 people, 837 wars and 13,183 cities, each one readable in place. Signing in is optional and lets you keep what you find.

HistoryLayer
1914CE
World Wars
123,000 BCE2026 CE
54 stops — one per surviving map on file, evenly spaced drag the pin · ←→ steps one stop the same 54 stops by true elapsed time ↑
Map & filters
Show on the map
Filter
Colour by
Polity Empire