Fort Orange, Ghana

Fort Orange (Dutch: Fort Oranje) was built as a trading post on the Dutch Gold Coast in 1642, near Sekondi in the Western Region of Ghana. It functioned as a lodge for a while during the 1670s and that was the original purpose for the fort before it was used as a trading post. The trading post was enlarged into a fort in 1690. It was joined by an English Fort Sekondi in 1682. It was sold with the rest of the Dutch Gold Coast to the United Kingdom in 1872, and now serves as a lighthouse. Because of its historical importance in trade between Europe and Africa, Fort Orange was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 along with several other castles and forts in Ghana.