The ancient church in Ghana where men were tortured, killed and sold

It still lies in the heart of the Central Region of Ghana albeit now serves a different purpose but at the time, this was a church where leaders would stand and supervise the most inhumane forms of suffering being meted out to men.

At the time, Ghana was known as the Gold Coast, and this was the first Church of England built by the British who had taken over the coast for their slavery activities.

It was during the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade period where slaves were held and sold through the Atlantic Ocean in the 1500s.

This church is situated in the Cape Coast Castle, on the side of the castle with a little red roof.

And though now serves as a library, it was a place where parishioners will look on to slaves, particularly male slaves who were directly beneath them in a dark dungeon.

The dungeon was a dark cold place it was, poorly ventilated with barely any space to lie down. There was no light and men, hundreds, were shackled and crammed in there without water and barely any food.

The floors of the dungeon were littered with faeces and many male captives who lived here died of illnesses as a result of the suffering and environment.

But right on top of this place was this church, airy and spacious, on top of which these colonial masters and their families will worship and go about their normal lives.

Sometimes, from the top of this building, these slave masters will select women who also had their dungeons not too far away and rape them. Sex for them was a human necessity and they had a plethora of women to choose from for their pleasure.

Many years on, the place still exists. It serves as a library that adds to the history of the place which has become a historical monument and tourist site but the story of the suffering and anguish Ghanaians suffered at this place will always be told.

The Cape Coast Castle was built by the Swedes in 1653 but moved through the hands of Portugese, etc. and then ended with the British. In the mid-1770s it was rebuilt.

These pictures as captured in a BBC documentary:

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The church with the red roofing

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A glimpse of the male dungeon beneath the church:

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An ariel view of the castle:

WA