Fort Orange, built in 1670 by the Dutch is located in Dutch Sekondi, now called Sekondi, a few metres off Sekondi’s harbour, in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis. Though it served as a trading post for some time, Fort Orange was originally intended to be a lodge, and it served that purpose during the 1670s.
The 1670s were also years of intense European competition for the wealth of the Gold Coast, and to weaken the Dutch stronghold on the coast, the English built a succession of forts and lodges within gunning range of Dutch fortresses.
In September 1694, it was plundered by one Ahanta group and destroyed. In 1698, the second group of Ahantas captured and damaged the English fort and the English had to rebuild it only for it to be recaptured by the French in 1779.
After this lodge was attacked by the indigenous people – for instance, when it was attacked by the Ahtantas in September 1694 – it was reconstructed into a much more fortified fort by 1704. Unsurprisingly, the fort’s cannons were mainly directed at the nearby British trading lodge.
Since its cessation to the British in 1872, ‘Fort Oranje’, as it was called by the Dutch, has been used as a lighthouse. Fort Orange is now a naval base for the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and has the Regional Office of the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board (GMMB).
The fort’s opening hours are 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.
Entrance fees are as follows:
| Visitor Category | Entrance Fee* |
| Pupils from Primary to JHS 3 | GH¢ 0.50 |
| SHS Students | GH¢ 1.00 |
| Tertiary Students with ID | GH¢ 2.00 |
| Ghanaian Adults | GH¢ 5.00 |
| Foreign Children | USD 2.00 or it’s equivalent in Ghana cedis |
| Foreign Students with ID | USD 7.00 or it’s equivalent in Ghana cedis |
| Adult Foreigners | USD 10.00 or it’s equivalent in Ghana cedis |
*Entrance fees were reviewed in February 2013
