Elmina, which is comes from the Portuguese word "mina" meaning gold mine, was built in 1482 by the Portuguese before Christopher Columbus even discovered the New World. The Portuguese built it to protect their gold trade from their rivals, the Dutch. Elmina made the Portuguese the dominant force in the Gold Coast trade until 1637 when the Dutch captured it. The Dutch added greatly to the castle using brick and timber imported from Amsterdam creating new rooms and expanding the courtyard they later converted into a slave market. The acquisition of Elmina enabled the Dutch to increase their slave shipments greatly.

Elmina is one of Ghana's most famous slaving castles. It was the first European fort built in Ghana and is now the oldest European structure in tropical Africa. It was also called Fort Sao Jorge da Mina and at one time was used as the base for Christopher Columbus on one of his missions to discover the New World. Elmina is now an UNESCO World Heritage Monument.