Fort Provintia

Fort Provintia (Chihkan Tower)

Coordinates: 22°59′51″N 120°12′10.12″E / 22.99750°N 120.2028111°E

Fort Provintia or Providentia (Chinese: 赤崁樓) was a Dutch outpost on Formosa at a site now located in the West Central District of Tainan in Taiwan. It was built in 1653 during the Dutch colonization of Taiwan. The Dutch, intending to strengthen their standing, sited the fort at Sakam, about 2 miles (3.2 km) due east from modern-day Anping.^[1] The fort was surrendered to Koxinga and later destroyed by an earthquake in the 19th century. It was rebuilt as Chihkan Tower (Chinese: 赤崁樓, p Chìkǎnlóu, w Ch'ih⁴-k'an³ Lou²; Hokkien: poj Chhiah-khám-lâu) afterwards.

The fort's name derives from the Taiwanese aboriginal village recorded by the Dutch as "Sakam", which has developed into the modern-day Tainan. Other early forms of the name are Chhaccam, Sacam, Saccam, and Zaccam. After growth in size and trade, the Chinese called it Chhiah-kham, and surrounded it with high brick walls. It eventually became the capital of the whole island under the name of Taiwan-fu.^[1]

In addition to the site's architectural and artistic significance, its library of dictionaries and business transactions documents the Siraya language spoken by the native inhabitants of the region during Dutch rule.

the entrance of the Chihkan Tower

See also

• Fort Santo Domingo
• Ft. Zeelandia
• Cape of San Diego
• Eternal Golden Castle
• History of Taiwan
• Taiwan under Dutch rule
• Koxinga
• Siraya

References

1. Campbell (1903), p. 546.

Bibliography

• Andrade, Tonio (2005). "Chapter 6: The Birth of Co-colonization". How Taiwan Became Chinese: Dutch, Spanish, and Han Colonization in the Seventeenth Century. Columbia University Press.
• Campbell, William (1903). "Explanatory Notes". Formosa under the Dutch: described from contemporary records, with explanatory notes and a bibliography of the island. London: Kegan Paul. OCLC 644323041.