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 Spanish Empire, 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".(Chinese: 紅毛城; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Âng-mn̂g-siâⁿ; lit. 'ang mo fort'). 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 an unofficial British embassy 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. 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.