Lecture: Early Europeans in West Africa: Ghana’s Elmina Castle and Fort Amsterdam

Join Dr. Renato Perucchio, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and of Biomedical Engineering, and Director of the Program in Archaeology, Technology, and Historical Structures, University of Rochester for a look at the trade castle of Elmina (shown), built by the Portuguese in Ghana in 1482.   Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Elmina was the first in a long series of fortified trading bases that various European countries established along the West Coast of Africa.  An ongoing multidisciplinary study at Elmina led by engineering and archaeology faculty from the University of Rochester, Syracuse University, and the University of Ghana is using methodologies from structural engineering, digital surveying, and historical archeology to digitally reconstruct and analyze this early example of Renaissance military architecture at various stages of its five-century history. Learn more.

Presented by the Nancy S. and Peter O. Brown Guest Lectureship in the Art and Architecture of Ancient Civilizations.

Included in museum admission, free to AIA members.