Fort Santo Domingo Audio Guide

Fort Santo Domingo: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Fort Santo Domingo

   Welcome to Fort Santo Domingo, in Tamsui District, New Taipei City. You are standing on a hilltop that looks out over the mouth of the Tamsui River, where the river meets the sea. That position is the reason this spot has mattered to so many different powers. In Taiwan, people usually call this place Hong Mao Cheng, which means the City of the Red-Haired People. The name hints at how many hands the site has passed through. A Spanish wooden fort came first, then a Dutch fort, then Qing dynasty repairs and batteries, and later a British consulate. Today the Tamsui Historical Museum looks after it. The fort is often a start-and-finish point for visitors to Tamsui, but it works best as a story told in layers. We will begin with the Spanish who first raised a fort here. Then we will look at how the place got its famous name and survived the Qing era. After that we will visit the British years and the modern landmark status. Take a moment to look at the water, because everything here began with it.

2. 02

   A Wooden Fort Called Saint Dominic

   The first chapter belongs to Spain. In 1628, the Spanish East Indies, governed from Manila, built a wooden fort on this hill. They named it el Fuerte de Santo Domingo, the Fort of Saint Dominic. Even in those early years, Tamsui was a place where merchants from Fujian came to trade with the Indigenous people of Formosa. That made the river mouth worth defending. The Spanish presence did not last. Their authority here was already weakening when a new governor chose to pull back. He had Fort Santo Domingo dismantled and left only a small redoubt guarding an entrance to Keelung. Fewer supply ships were sent from Manila as well. The Spanish tore down their own fort before the Dutch expelled them from Tamsui in 1642. An old account describes how the people of Tamsui read the move: they believed the Spanish had left out of fear. Having lived in a fortress of cane and wood, they said, the Spanish no longer dared to stay even in one of stone. That is how local people saw it, and it is a vivid glimpse of how a retreat can look from the other side.

3. 03

   The Red-Haired Fort and the Qing Years

   After the Spanish left, the Dutch built Fort Antonio near the ruins of the earlier fort. Han Chinese at the time called the Dutch red-haired people, and that is how the fort became known as Hong Mao Cheng, the red-haired fort. The name has stuck for centuries, even though the Dutch are only one chapter of the story. The fort was later abandoned for about 40 years. In 1724, Wang Qian, then Deputy Magistrate of Tamsui under the Taiwan Prefecture, began to renovate it. Later, during the Jiaqing era of the Qing dynasty, the Qing army built new artillery batteries on the east side of the riverbank below the fort. They stationed the Hwei Marine Force there. This history leaves a trace in the architecture. The south gate is the only building in the complex in Chinese style. Nearby stands Hobe Fort, a defensive position from the late Qing era, which today is managed by the same museum. The two are close together, and they show how this river mouth kept needing guards.

4. 04

   The British Consulate and a National Monument

   Now look at the red brick buildings beside the fort. In 1860, the Treaty of Tianjin between China and Britain was signed, and Tamsui Port was opened. The British ended up making this hilltop their consulate. The consulate's outer walls are made of Qing dynasty red brick in a warm orange-red. Arched corridors, sloping roofs and high steps give it the look of classic colonial architecture. The main fort, by contrast, has a square layout. The British story ran a long time. In 1946, Britain returned to the site, claiming a perpetual leasehold, and reopened the consulate. On the sixth of January, 1950, Britain severed diplomatic relations with the Republic of China, yet the consulate in Tamsui kept working. In 1980, the Taiwanese government retrieved the land from the British. The site was designated a national monument on the twenty-eighth of December, 1983, and its exterior was fully renovated the following year. The former residence became the Tamsui Historical Museum in 2005. Nearby, the current Tamsui Church was designed and supervised by Reverend G. W. Mackay in 1932, after the death of his father, Reverend George Leslie Mackay. Together, the fort and its surrounding buildings are listed by the Ministry of Culture as one of 18 potential World Heritage Sites in Taiwan.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   As you look out over the Tamsui River estuary, think about how many flags this hill has watched come and go: Spanish, Dutch, Qing and British. Each left a different mark, from a name carried in Chinese, to a gate in Chinese style, to red brick arches. The Tamsui Historical Museum looks after Fort Santo Domingo and several other sites around Tamsui. They include the Tamsui Customs Officers' Residence, which is nicknamed the Little White House, and the nearby Hobe Fort. The museum also offers hands-on tours led by volunteers, which are a good way to learn more. Before you go, try a small game. Compare the square main fort with the red brick consulate, and look for the one gate built in Chinese style. Then look back at the river and ask yourself why so many powers wanted this exact hill.