Location, Location, Location: Displays of Colonial Power in the Architecture of Elmina Castle and Mexico City Cathedral, By Eve Raine

Colonial architecture serves many purposes for the colonizer, but none more universally acknowledged than to reflect the power of the colonizer. Common construction methods and features of colonial architecture are repeated globally across different empires, such as the use of vernacular materials, presence of cultural hybridity, and use of Indigenous labour and craftsmanship. One feature that is often overlooked is the use of location and the ensuing relationship between location and power. Two such examples of colonial architecture with complex relationships between location and power are Elmina Castle and Mexico City Cathedral. Although Elmina Castle and Mexico City Cathedral are separated by geography, time, and the cultures that produced them, both works use their location to accentuate their power in order to support their colonial aspirations. Despite the shared valuing of location as a political tool, each building has additional architectural features to assert its power. For instance, Elmina Castle uses a classical style, military architecture, and a double-staircase motif, whereas Mexico City Cathedral uses a Baroque style with religious and royal imagery. Each building will first be examined individually to assess its unique displays of power, then compared for its use of location in the building’s design.

Elmina Castle’s architecture demonstrates the power imbalance between the colonizer and the colonized, evident through the activities that took place within the castle’s walls. Elmina Castle was originally constructed by the Portuguese in 1482 along the Gold Coast, in modern-day Ghana, to facilitate trade with the Indigenous Fante people.¹ Elmina Castle was constructed in a classical style, which is seen in the whitewashed stucco that adorns the entire building; the style is reflected in its facade and walls, Doric order pilasters that frame many of the doorways, brick inlay that mimics volutes and triangular pediments, and the use of arches. The entire complex is minimally ornamented with plain white walls; only the windows and roof tiles break up the facade. This plain appearance sets the building apart from religious architecture and West African vernacular architecture, reflecting its role as a place of trade and bureaucracy. The use of the classical style asserts European control over the land, connecting the building to the historic European civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome; this serves to legitimize the Portuguese presence by appealing to a sense of authority. This connection would have been particularly important as Elmina Castle was one of the first European buildings in the region.²   The use of a classical architectural style to convey legitimacy was a common tactic among other European empires globally. 

The Castle was then seized by the Dutch in 1637 and utilized as a lodge to temporarily hold enslaved peoples during the Atlantic Slave Trade,  before they were transported across the Atlantic to be auctioned into slavery to Brazillian sugar plantations.³  The Dutch’s military additions to the fort further illustrate an attempt to exert colonial power through architecture.⁴   The militarized architectural elements can be seen in the fortified walls, bullet balusters, bastions, moat, and strategic positioning of the square towers.⁵   This militarized architecture serves the purposes of maintaining an important tactical trading post, and creates an intimidating appearance to remind Indigenous viewers and enslaved people of the constant presence of a foreign military. 

In addition to the architecture’s military quality, the prominent double staircase acts as a powerful symbol of surveillance, asserting European control and superiority over the Indigenous population. The motif of a double staircase was adopted from the Fante people, who connected it to power and business.⁶   The previous associations allowed for the Portuguese to easily translate their intended ideology between cultures.⁷   The courtyard contains a central double staircase, flanked by two circular staircases on either side, with an entrance to the holding lodge, intended to imprison enslaved people, directly below the apex of the staircase. The layout of the courtyard places emphasis on the European figures who used the stairs; it is located on the opposite wall to the courtyard entrance to, and creates an elevated vantage point for European figures to survey the courtyard. It works as a visual reminder of European superiority and surveillance over Indigenous bodies. 

Unlike Elmina Castle, which has a classical style to assert colonial legitimacy over the land, Mexico City Cathedral was built in a Churrigueresque Baroque Spanish style, which is categorized by an elaborate use of ornamentation, sculpture, and gilding.⁸   The Baroque style is illustrated in many of the Cathedral’s architectural elements as follows: the volute motif, oculus windows, dome, vaulted ceilings, and estipite columns, with the facade molded after the Church of Gesù, the Jesuit headquarters.⁹   The use of a domestic Spanish architectural style serves to connect the colony to the metropole, and the opulent aesthetic inspires awe by displaying wealth to assert power over the Indigenous viewer. 

The Cathedral’s architecture acts as an extension of the authority of the Catholic church and the Spanish monarchy. Symbolism of the Catholic church and Spanish royalty is seen throughout the Cathedral’s interior decoration. Unsurprisingly, the Cathedral is adorned with a massive amount of religious art, showcasing the Catholic church’s authority over its colonies. Works of art, such as the relief sculpture of The Ship of the Church Sailing the Seas of Eternity, illustrates the Spanish church’s arrival and continual presence in the colony. The Cathedral also advertises the Spanish monarchy’s power,  most evident in the Altar of Kings. The Altar of Kings is a monumental altar often treated as a work of architecture in its own right due to its scale and craftsmanship. The Altar contains life- size sculptures and paintings entirely covered in gold in a display of opulence. The layout of the Cathedral places tremendous emphasis on the altarpiece exemplified by a choir positioned in front of the entrance to obstruct the view of the rest of the interior, with a central nave that ends with the Altar of Kings. This setup thereby makes it impossible for people attending religious services not to notice the altar, and serves as a reminder of the Spanish monarchy’s control, despite the lack of physical presence in colonial America. Mexico City Cathedral dominates the neighbouring architecture as the largest building in Colonial America. 

Both works of architecture use location as an important tool to assert power over both the Indigenous people and the land. Elmina Castle is built along the coast for militaristic advantage, while signifying self-importance and attracting trade. The location of the Castle was chosen as one of the most defensible positions on the peninsula, with the north side of the outer wall built along the shoreline to minimize the potential for attack. The seizure of the Castle by the Dutch in 1637 demonstrates the real threat of attack from competing Empires within the Gold Coast, and thereby proving its importance with strong defence as a military architecture. The Castle’s white-washed walls increased its visibility from a distance, and made it the most prominent structure on the horizon, both asserting Portuguese dominance and attracting trade. Similar to Mexico City Cathedral, the slave lodge was opposite to the government building; the juxtaposition of the buildings serve as a reminder of the Dutch government’s control over the complex. The construction of the Castle as one of the first European buildings built on the Gold Coast signified the permanent involvement of European powers in the region and the growth of the Atlantic Slave Trade. 

Mexico City Cathedral is one of the most famous examples of colonial architecture that uses location to assert power. Mexico City is built on top of the former Aztec capital with the Cathedral constructed over top of the principal Aztec temple, going as far as to use elements of the original. This placement solidifies Catholic control over Mexico, sending a message of Catholic triumph over paganism. The placement of the Viceregal Palace on the same square across the Cathedral connects church and state in a powerful display, grouping two of the most powerful organizations in their contemporaneous era: the Catholic church and the Spanish Empire. Additionally, the Viceregal Palace was constructed over Moctezuma’s palace, the last emperor of the Aztec Empire. By building their largest Cathedral and center of government control over the former empire’s capital, the Spanish took over the previously established authority of the Aztec Empire, transitioning power to the new Spanish Empire.  

The Elmina Castle and Mexico City Cathedral use common colonial architecture tactics;both architectural works use domestic European styles to connect them to the metropole or to appeal to authority, as well as a strategic use of location to further their colonial mission. The use of location is fundamental to understanding colonial architecture, as it helps to explain the building’s relationship to the land and how viewers would have interacted with the work. In discussions of colonial history, these two topics are particularly important for understanding the complex dynamics of colonial relations, both to the Indigenous people and the land occupied. Location is an inherent tool of colonial architecture; this is often implied as colonialism fundamentally involves accessing land that does belong to the metropole but discussion of location tends to lie under the surface of architectural analysis. Despite the importance of acknowledging land and built environment to gain more context into colonial architecture, conversations of location are often neglected. Elmina Castle and Mexico City Cathedral are two works of colonial architecture with proven historical significance that, when positioned together in discussion, illustrate the importance of physical space in the analysis of colonial architecture.

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