Fort Santo Domingo

Fort Santo Domingo is a historical fortress in Tamsui District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. It was originally a wooden fort built in 1628 by the Manila-based Spanish East Indies of the Spanish Empire, who named it in . However, after refurbishing it in stone, the initial fort was repeatedly ordered to be dismantled and withdrawn from around 1637 by Spanish Governor-General Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera for economic downsizing and retrenchment, which their rival Dutch East India Company (VOC) of the Dutch Empire soon found out and later invaded in 1641 and won by the Second Battle of San Salvador in 1642. After the battle, the Dutch rebuilt a fort in the original site in 1644 and renamed it in , after Antonio van Diemen, the then Governor-General of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). Since the Dutch were called in Taiwanese Hokkien ) by the Han Chinese immigrants during the time, the fort was then nicknamed in Taiwanese Hokkien .

In 1724, the Qing Government repaired the fort, and built a perimeter wall with four gates. From 1868 onwards the fort was leased to the British government as its consulate, 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.

After the war, it was returned to British control. The site was used as the British consulate until 1972, though official diplomatic relations between Republic of China (Taiwan) and the United Kingdom were terminated in 1950. Afterwards the fort was temporarily managed by Australia and the United States of America, 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. It is considered a potential World Heritage Site.

The site of Fort Santo 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 Santo 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), 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."

Owing to economic downturn affecting the Spanish Empire (during the last years of the Iberian Union) around the 1630s to 1640s, shrinking revenues and rising defense costs and the Spanish East Indies's armies and resources spread thin on multiple fronts with multiple enemies (e.g. Johor Sultanate, Maguindanao Sultanate, Dutch East India Company as part of the Dutch-Portuguese War), the Spanish Governor-Generals of the time saw the Spanish presence in Taiwan as a drain on resources and personnel. Governor-General Sebastián Hurtado de Corcuera would write letters in 1636 to King Philip IV: "That the enemy [<nowiki/>Dutch East India Company] maintains a post [in Formosa] does not at all embarrass or hinder the Crown of Castile, for the Chinese do not fail to come in twenty-four hours to the forts of Your Majesty that are on this side of the sea [i.e., Manila], bringing the necessary merchandise and supplies. That island, Sire, is of very little use to your Majesty, and it serves only to consume a large part of the revenues." Rather than waiting for the king's response, Corcuera convened a war council proposing to abandon Spanish Formosa or withdraw some of its forces, as it was then deemed as a waste of soldiers, money, and food supplies, as shipments directly arriving to Spanish Manila brought by Chinese merchant ships was deemed more economical, ideally plying the route from Portuguese Macau rather than going near Dutch Formosa that the Portuguese and Spanish as part of the Iberian Union were at war with in the Dutch-Portuguese War. Nearly all members of the war council agreed but Governor-General Corcuera forgoed advising the king on the matter and ordered the governor of Spanish Formosa to send a force to punish the natives who attacked Fort Santo Domingo in 1636 to make sure any withdrawal of manpower and abandonment of the fort did not show fear of the natives, then the governor was to withdraw all artillery and soldiers and dismantle it entirely to take back to the main fort in Keelung and downsize most all manpower and resources back to Manila, leaving only 125 soldiers in Keelung. The governor in Keelung was reluctant to carry this order out since he had just renovated Fort Santo Domingo with stone, so it appears that he did not dismantle the fort, but at least brought back most of the personnel on October 24, 1637, back to the Philippines. Corcuera got mad at him and reappointed a new governor repeating his previous order to dismantle Fort Santo Domingo and withdraw all forces to Keelung with the previous governor later being exiled to Ternate for his disobedience. The new governor followed through on dismantling Fort Santo Domingo, except leaving a small redoubt guarding an entrance to Keelung. Corcuera ordered more forces to be recalled from Formosa and reduced the yearly supply ships from Manila to Formosa from two to one.

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. 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 and Guanyin Mountain.

The fort is open to the public Tuesday – Sunday, 9am – 5pm. There is an NT$80 charge for admission, with some exceptions.

Transport

The fort is accessible within walking distance North West from Tamsui Station of the Taipei Metro.

References

Bibliography

External links

Tamsui Historical Museum, New Taipei City