Fort Provintia
Fort Provintia
Fort Provintia (No.212, Sec.2, Minzu Rd., Tainan City) – a.k.a. Chihkan Tower, this fort was built in 1653 by the Dutch to help administer its colony in Taiwan. The walls were once 453 feet around and 36 feet in height. The walls of this stronghold were made of bricks imported from Java, while the walls of buildings were made from rock-hard bricks of oyster shell lime mixed with sugar water and glutinous rice paste.
After driving out the Dutch in 1662, General Koxinga renamed this fort “Mansion Bestowed by Heaven” and made it his center of government. It was abandoned at the time of Chu Yi-kui’s rebellion, and soon thereafter damaged by an earthquake. The external wall and the raised terrace were the only remaining parts.
Among the most extraordinary historic objects at the Chihkan Tower are the stone turtle tablets bestowed by the Cianlong (Qianlong) Emperor (1736~1796) to General Fu Kang-an. The inscriptions on the turtles commend Fu Kang-an for suppressing the Lin Shuang-wen rebellion. The inscriptions are in parallel Chinese and Manchu, which makes the turtles quite unusual among tablets in Taiwan.
Admission: NT$50 (adult), NT$25 (seniors and children). Hours: 8:30 am – 9:30 pm (daily).