During the 4 decades the Dutch East India Company (in Dutch VOC) ruled over Formosa they build several forts and fortifications to protect their possessions from outside threats. Today I would like to dive a bit deeper into these defensive buildings, where were they built? What did they look like and what remains of these structures after 400 years?
Lately I haven’t published much on my website but behind the scenes I’ve been busy on a project: the journals of castle Zeelandia! This years marks the 400 year anniversary of the Dutch-Taiwan relations as 400 years ago the Dutch first arrived on mainland Formosa on what is now An-ping district in Tainan. From exhibitions … Read more
Taiwan is frequently visited by Typhoons. Most of them are moving passed the island but sometimes they also hit the island. When I lived in Taiwan I only once had a Typhoon struck northern Taiwan. Back then I lived in Taipei city, and apart of some rain and stronger wind, in the city center it … Read more
This is the story of the Dutch conquest of Fort San Salvador and the Spanish town La Sanctissima Trinida ( current day Keelung) in the year 1642 as described by P.A. Leupe in his work “DE VEROVERING VAN HET FORT: LA SANCTISSIMA TRINIDADE, OP FORMOSA, IN 1642″. In his work he both uses descriptions as … Read more
In the day-to-day registers of Fort Zeelandia we can find a description by the dutch Governer of his travel to the Pehou (or Penghu Island) in the year 1629.
This is an ongoing project of mine. I collect historical maps of Taiwan. Maps can tell the history of a place through the years. Interesting features and descriptions put on a map can sometimes be connected to written records of a time period. Sometimes in Modern day there are even traces of the past left … Read more
I heard for the first time there was a Dutch Settlement by the VOC in Taiwan in the 17th Century when I went to travel to the city of Tainain in the South of Taiwan. We went to have a look at the An-ping fort (remains of fort Zeelandia) and to Fort Provintia. There were … Read more