Chihkan Tower formerly Fort Provintia in West Central District

West Central District, Tainan

West Central District is a district located in the central of Tainan City, Taiwan. It is the district founded on April 1, 2004, which merged with West District and Central District....

, Tainan City was built in 1653 by the Dutch during their colonization

Taiwan under Dutch rule

Dutch Formosa refers to the period of colonial Dutch government on Formosa , lasting from 1624 to 1662. In the context of the Age of Discovery the Dutch East India Company established its presence on Taiwan to trade with China and Japan, and also to interdict Portuguese and Spanish trade and...

 of Taiwan

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

. The fort was surrendered to Koxinga

Koxinga

Koxinga is the customary Western spelling of the popular appellation of Zheng Chenggong , a military leader who was born in 1624 in Hirado, Japan to Zheng Zhilong, a Chinese merchant/pirate, and his Japanese wife and died in 1662 on the island of Formosa .A Ming loyalist and the arch commander of...

. Since 1945 the site has been known as 'Red-topped Tower' (赤崁樓). This name derives from the Taiwanese aboriginal word Chakam.

In addition to the site's architectural and artistic significance, its library of dictionaries and business transactions documents the Siraya language

Siraya language

Siraya is a Formosan language spoken until the end of the 19th century by the indigenous Siraya people of Taiwan. Dialects of Siraya included Taivoa and Makatao....

 spoken by the native inhabitants of the region during Dutch rule.

See also

• Fort Santo Domingo
  Fort Santo Domingo
  Fuerte Santo Domingo or Fort San Domingo was originally a wooden fort built by the Spanish in 1629 at Tamsui on the northwestern coast of Taiwan.-History:...
  
  
• Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)
  Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)
  Fort Zeelandia was a fortress built over ten years from 1624–1634 by the Dutch Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, in the town of Anping on the island of Formosa, present day Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of it...
  
  
• Cape of San Diego
  Cape of San Diego
  Cape San Diego is a cape located in Gongliao District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. The cape is the easternmost point of the main Taiwan island, and also the easternmost cape of Taiwan. On May 5, 1626, a Spanish fleet reached the northeast tip of Taiwan and named the native village of Caquiunauan as...
  
  
• Eternal Golden Castle
  Eternal Golden Castle
  The Eternal Golden Castle , alternatively but less well known as Uhrkuenshen Battery , is a defensive castle in Anping, Tainan, Taiwan. The castle was built in 1874 by the famous Qing official Shen Baozhen in order to safeguard the coast and to defend the island against Japanese invasions.In 1895,...
  
  
• History of Taiwan
  History of Taiwan
  Taiwan was first populated by Negrito, and then Austronesian people. It was colonized by the Dutch in the 17th century, followed by an influx of Han Chinese including Hakka immigrants from areas of Fujian and Guangdong of mainland China, across the Taiwan Strait...
  
  
• Taiwan under Dutch rule
  Taiwan under Dutch rule
  Dutch Formosa refers to the period of colonial Dutch government on Formosa , lasting from 1624 to 1662. In the context of the Age of Discovery the Dutch East India Company established its presence on Taiwan to trade with China and Japan, and also to interdict Portuguese and Spanish trade and...
  
  
• Koxinga
  Koxinga
  Koxinga is the customary Western spelling of the popular appellation of Zheng Chenggong , a military leader who was born in 1624 in Hirado, Japan to Zheng Zhilong, a Chinese merchant/pirate, and his Japanese wife and died in 1662 on the island of Formosa .A Ming loyalist and the arch commander of...
  
  
• Siraya
  Siraya
  The Siraya are an indigenous people of Taiwan. The Siraya settled flat coastal plains in the southwest part of the island and corresponding sections of the east coast; the area is identified today with Tainan City and Taitung County...