Anping Old Fort (Fort Zeelandia)

Fort Zeelandia was constructed by the Dutch East India Company (VOC) between 1624 and 1634 on a sand bar known as Tayouan, in what is now Anping District, Tainan City, Taiwan. The fortress served as the administrative headquarters of Dutch Formosa for 38 years, overseeing a colonial enterprise that exported deer hides to Japan, encouraged Chinese immigration for sugar and rice cultivation, and transformed Taiwan into a node in global mercantile networks.

In 1662, Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) laid siege to the fort and compelled the Dutch to surrender, ending 38 years of Dutch rule. The inner fort became the seat of government for the Zheng dynasty's Kingdom of Tungning. During the subsequent Qing Dynasty, the Taijiang inland sea silted up, diminishing the fort's strategic importance, and soldiers stripped its building materials for other construction projects such as Eternal Golden Castle (Erkunshen Battery).

Under Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945), the remaining Dutch-era structures were systematically demolished. In 1897, Japanese authorities leveled part of the ruins to address a shortage of customs office housing, constructing a three-tiered brick platform on the site. Japanese-style housing for the head of the Anping customs was built on the platform, and a nearby building served as the customs club. In 1930, the Governor-General's Office cleared surrounding dwellings and renovated the platform buildings for the "Taiwan Culture 300 Years" celebration. Around 1944, late in World War II, a brick air-defence watchtower was added on the platform for coastal and air surveillance.

After Japan's defeat in 1945, the site was renamed Anping Old Fort (安平古堡). The Republic of China government launched restoration efforts, and in 1975 the Tainan City Government undertook major repairs and extended the grounds for tourism development. The Japanese-era lookout tower was renovated into the distinctive white observation tower that stands today as the fort's most recognizable landmark.

Today, only a fragment of the original Dutch outer wall remains, covered in the tangled roots of ancient banyan trees. The site is designated as a National Historic Monument (國定古蹟) and serves as one of Tainan's most important cultural tourism destinations, preserving layers of history spanning Dutch, Zheng, Qing, Japanese, and modern eras.