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Fort Santo Domingo is a historical fortress in
Tamsui District Tamsui District (Hokkien POJ: ''Tām-chúi''; Hokkien Tâi-lô: ''Tām-tsuí''; Mandarin Pinyin: ''Dànshuǐ'') is a seaside district in New Taipei, Taiwan. It is named after the Tamsui River; the name means "fresh water". The town is popul ...
,
New Taipei City New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, b ...
,
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
. It was originally a wooden fort built in 1628 by the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
, who named it "Fort Santo Domingo". However, the fort was then destroyed by the Spanish themselves, after losing the Second Battle of San Salvador to the Dutch Empire in 1642. After the battle, in 1644, the Dutch rebuilt a fort in the original site and renamed it "Fort Antonio". Since the Dutch were called "Red-haired People" by the Han immigrants during the time, the fort was then nicknamed "Fort Red Hair".(). In 1724, the
Qing Government The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
repaired the fort, and built a perimeter wall with four gates. From 1868 onwards the fort was leased to the
British government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...
as its
consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth co ...
, and a new two-storey building was built nearby as the consul's residence. The fort continued to be used as a British consulate during Japanese rule, but was briefly closed during the
Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vas ...
. After the war, it was returned to British control. The site was used as an unofficial British embassy until 1972, though official diplomatic relations between
Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeas ...
(
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
) and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
were terminated in 1950. Afterwards the fort was temporarily managed by
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...
and the
United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
, before the fort was returned to the government of Republic of China (Taiwan) in 1980. Since then, the fort has been a National Historical Site, open to tourists and archaeologists alike. The site of Fort San Domingo includes the main fortress, the former British consul's residence, and the south gate built during Qing dynasty. Among the architectures, the main fortress is one of the oldest buildings on the whole island, and there were four cannons placed in the front of the fortress, which could be traced back to Jiaqing era. The former British consul's residence is on the east side of the main fortress, and is a two-storey English-style building. The south gate is the only Chinese style architecture among all the buildings, and is made from Guangin Stones. Fort San Domingo is located near Hobe Fort, which was built during the late Qing era.


History


Spanish Era

After the Spanish established a permanent colony at San Salvador (Palm Island; modern-day
Hoping Island Heping Island Park () is a park in Heping Island, Zhongzheng District, Keelung, Taiwan. History Strong wind over the years had eroded the coastal area of Heping Island, forming rocks with special shapes. The park used to be under military cont ...
), they proceeded in 1629 to occupy Tamsui, "which even at this early period was frequented by many Chinese merchants, who came from Fokien to barter with the Formosa natives." On a night in 1636, a group of local people, angered by the taxes that the Spanish governor had imposed, successfully attacked the fort and demolished it. In 1637, the Spanish rebuilt the fort using stone and raised the walls' height to twenty feet or more. A church was also built on a hill, and the locals helped to make a road to it from the fort. " Peter Nuits the Dutch Governor of Formosa, reported these facts to his home authorities and exposed in an interesting report the injury that the Spaniards were doing to Dutch trade and the necessity of sending an expedition to drive them away." After a failed first attempt in 1641, the Dutch made a second expedition on 3 August 1642: "the Dutch appeared off Tamsui with a comparatively powerful squadron of four frigates, a large cutter, nine small vessels, besides several transports..." After the Dutch mounted artillery at an elevation commanding the fort, they succeeded in taking the fort on 24 August. The Dutch also expelled the Spaniards from nearby
Keelung Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port Provincial city (Taiwan), city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan a ...
. The Spanish fort in Tamsui had by then already been razed by the Spanish themselves. It is also claimed that no traces remain of the forts on Palm Island, as they were destroyed by
Zheng Jing Zheng Jing, Prince of Yanping (; 25 October 1642 – 17 March 1681), courtesy names Xianzhi () and Yuanzhi (), pseudonym Shitian (), was a 17th-century Chinese warlord, Ming dynasty loyalist and ruler of the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan. Bi ...
, son of
Koxinga Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...
.


Dutch era

The Dutch then became the "undisputed masters of Formosa", and built a new fort on the site with the intention to maintain the trade of
sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formul ...
and deer skin, while also deploying vessels in the
Tamsui River The Tamsui River (alternatively Danshui River, ) is third longest river in Taiwan after Zhuoshui River and Gaoping River, with a total length of , flowing through Hsinchu County, Taoyuan, Taipei and New Taipei City. It is located in northern p ...
to protect the trading zone. The fort was named as Fort Antonio, with the name of Governors-General of the Dutch East Indies,
Anthony van Diemen Anthony van Diemen (also ''Antonie'', ''Antonio'', ''Anton'', ''Antonius'') (1593 – 19 April 1645) was a Dutch colonial governor. Early life He was born in Culemborg in the Netherlands, the son of Meeus Anthonisz van Diemen and Christina Ho ...
, during the time. In 1644, they replaced it with the structure still standing today, also called Fort Antonio. The "Old Dutch Fort" made of brick and stone has been described as "impregnable against any engines of war that those early days could produce." The locals called the Dutch "the red-haired people", which led to the compound's
Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages ...
name ().


Qing era

From 1683 to 1867 the
Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
Chinese government controlled the fort and during this time (1724) built a stone wall with four gates around it, of which only one, the main gate, survives. Following the
Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire#Britain's imperial ...
, in 1868 the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
took over the fort, made it their trade
consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of diplomatic mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth co ...
, and painted it red (it was previously white). The fort was struck during the 1884 French bombardment of the
Battle of Tamsui The Battle of Tamsui, Danshui, or Hobe (2–8 October 1884) was a significant French defeat by the Qing dynasty at Tamsui on Taiwan during the Keelung Campaign of the Sino-French War. Background The battle of Tamsui was part of the Keelu ...
but suffered no damage. The linguist
Herbert Allen Giles Herbert Allen Giles (, 8 December 184513 February 1935) was a British diplomat and sinologist who was the professor of Chinese at the University of Cambridge for 35 years. Giles was educated at Charterhouse School before becoming a British dip ...
resided in the fort from 1885 to 1888 and completed some of his work on the Wade-Giles system of romanization of
Standard Chinese Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standa ...
there. Next to the fort the British built their consular residence in 1891. The Fort is adjacent to
Aletheia University Aletheia University (after Greek ἀλήθεια, 'truth') () is a private university in Tamsui, New Taipei City and Madou, Tainan in Taiwan. It was founded by George Leslie Mackay as Oxford College. It has close links to the Presbyteria ...
, which traces its origins back to 1872 when the Reverend Dr. George Leslie Mackay, a Canadian
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...
, established a mission and then a medical service and a school.


Modern era

The consulate closed during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
and reopened after the end of the war. The premises remained as the British consulate in Taiwan until 1972, when the United Kingdom recognized the People's Republic of China. It then served as the Austrian embassy in Taiwan for a few months, until that nation also recognized the PRC.
Aletheia University Aletheia University (after Greek ἀλήθεια, 'truth') () is a private university in Tamsui, New Taipei City and Madou, Tainan in Taiwan. It was founded by George Leslie Mackay as Oxford College. It has close links to the Presbyteria ...
then attempted to acquire the fort, but no deal was reached by the time negotiations ended in 1978. The government of the Republic of China terminated the lease in 1980, taking ownership of the fort by 30 June. It was opened to tourists on 25 December 1984. The fort is classified as a grade one listed historical site and is now a museum with the interior recreated from photographs. In 2003, maintenance of the site was entrusted to the Taipei County Government from the
Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...
. It was reopened after refurbishment in 2005.


Tourist information

The fort and the former British consular residence, an elegant Victorian house fused with some Chinese elements, now function as a museum. The location provides a beautiful outlook on the
Tamsui River The Tamsui River (alternatively Danshui River, ) is third longest river in Taiwan after Zhuoshui River and Gaoping River, with a total length of , flowing through Hsinchu County, Taoyuan, Taipei and New Taipei City. It is located in northern p ...
and Guanyin Mountain. The fort is open to the public Tuesday – Sunday, 9am – 5pm. There is an $80NTD charge for admission, with some exceptions.


Transport

The fort is accessible within walking distance North West from Tamsui Station of the
Taipei Metro Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), branded as Metro Taipei, is a rapid transit system serving the areas of Taipei and New Taipei in Taiwan, operated by the government-owned Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation, which also operates the Maokong Gondo ...
.


See also

*
Fort Provintia Fort Provintia or Providentia, also known as Chihkan Tower (), was a Dutch outpost on Formosa at a site now located in West Central District, Tainan, Taiwan. It was built in 1653 during the Dutch colonization of Taiwan. The Dutch, intending to ...
*
Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan) Fort Zeelandia () was a fortress built over ten years from 1624 to 1634 by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), in the town of Anping (now Anping District of Tainan) on Formosa, the former name of main island of Taiwan, during their 38-year rul ...
*
Cape Santiago Cape Santiago ( es, Cabo Santiago, fil, Kabo Santiago) is the southwestern point of the island of Luzon located within the municipality of Calatagan in Batangas, Philippines. It is a cape at the southern tip of Calatagan Peninsula which faces the ...
*
Eternal Golden Castle The Eternal Golden Castle (), alternatively but less well known as Erkunshen Battery (), is a defensive castle in Anping District, Tainan, Taiwan. History The castle was built in 1874 and completed on 1876 by the famous Qing official Shen Bao ...
*
Taiwan under Dutch rule The island of Taiwan, also commonly known as ''Formosa'', was partly under colonial rule by the Dutch Republic from 1624 to 1662 and from 1664 to 1668. In the context of the Age of Discovery, the Dutch East India Company established its presence ...
*
History of Taiwan The history of the island of Taiwan dates back tens of thousands of years to the earliest known evidence of human habitation. The sudden appearance of a culture based on agriculture around 3000 BC is believed to reflect the arrival of the ances ...


References


Bibliography

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External links


Tamsui Historical Museum, New Taipei City
{{Forts in Taiwan 1629 establishments in Taiwan 1629 establishments in the Spanish East Indies
San Domingo Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and ...
Spanish Formosa Dutch Formosa Spanish East Indies Military and war museums in Taiwan Buildings and structures completed in 1644 Tourist attractions in New Taipei Spanish Colonial architecture Former properties of the Dutch East India Company Buildings and structures associated with the Dutch East India Company National monuments of Taiwan