Fort San Domingo Park (New Taipei City Tamsui Historical Museum)

Fort San Domingo, standing in Tamsui for over three centuries, is characterized by its striking vermillion red exterior walls. The park contains buildings from the Spanish and Dutch colonial periods, the Qing Dynasty, and the Japanese occupation era, making it one of the oldest existing buildings in Taiwan. The original fortress, "San Domingo Castle," was built in 1628 by the Spanish who governed northern Taiwan. However, San Domingo Castle was later destroyed. In 1644, the Dutch rebuilt it near the original site and named it "Fort Antonio." At that time, the Han Chinese referred to the Dutch as "Hongmao" (red-haired), hence the fortress became known as "Hongmao Castle" (Fort San Domingo). In 1724, Wang Qian, the Assistant Sub-prefect of Tamsui under the Taiwan Prefecture, began renovating Fort San Domingo and added four outer gates. After 1867, the British government leased Fort San Domingo to serve as a consulate, and a consular residence was built next to it. It has successively been under the jurisdiction of the Spanish, Dutch, Kingdom of Tungning, Qing Dynasty, and the British, Americans, and Australians, with its history serving as a living testament to Taiwan's past.