Fort San Domingo, Taipei

Fort San Domingo is most famous for the red-walled Fort Antonio, but the British Consulate is actually the somewhat more interesting of the two buildings. The building is now a small museum, with exhibits inside describing the power of the British Consulate, during the rule of the Japanese, and later the Chinese. The consulate gave citizens of their nation (in this case, Britain) unfair power over the locals. The most famous person to serve at this British Consulate was Herbert Giles, who helped develop a romanization of the Chinese languange.

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Fort San Domingo (Fuerte Santo Domingo) (Hongmao Castle) (Hongmao Cheng) (紅毛城) is the most famous historical site at Danshui, and has been declared a rade One historic site by the ROC government. The fort is located at the top of a hill in Danshui; admission is NT 60, NT 40 for students, open from 9:00 to 17:00. After entering the fort complex, there is a short uphill climb to the base of the red Fort Antonio, the most famous part of the fort complex. You can wander the area for quite a while, or look from the hill across the Danshui River for great views; you can see the Strait of Taiwan and Guanyin Shan. There are also a collection of cannons near Fort Antonio, and a gift shop (with air conditioning) at the exit.

Fot San Domingo was first built in 1629 by the Spanish; in 1636, the first (wooden) fort was burned down. The Spanish rebuilt it in 1637, but it was captured and destroyed by the Duth in 1642. The Dutch rebuilt another fort at the original site; the new fort was called Hongmao Cheng (Fort of the red-haired) by the Chinese, who called the Dutch "The Red-Haired People." In 1683 the Chinese took over the fort, and held it until 1867, when they lost it to the British in the Opium Wars. Fort San Domingo was later the site of a British Consulate, and the entire fort complex was owned by the British until 1972, when it was returned to the ROC government.

Originally built by the Spanish in the 17th century, took over by the Dutch later, then the British rented it in the 19th century, and built a consulant next to it. The Fort was turned into a museum in the 1980s.

It's a nice view of the Tamshui River from the Fort, as it's up on the mountain.