Anping small fort, A Bastion of History Defending the Past

No. 1006-7, Anping Subsection, Ximen Li, Anping District, Tainan City

3.7

Introduction

Anping Fort is located in Anping District, Tainan City, Taiwan. It is a coastal defense structure on the west side of the remaining city walls. The fortification consists of a main fort and a protective stone dike to the north. The main fort, built with granite and pebbles, is adjacent to the Water Pond Park. It features six brick battlements on the south, north, and west sides, although the cannons seen today are replicas. The stone dike to the north is constructed with coral stones and compacted earth, with gunholes and water gates, and is now a National Third-Class Monument. Anping Fort was built during the 20th year of the Qing dynasty's Daoguang period (1840) during the First Opium War as a defense against the British. Facing the Tainan Inner Sea and the Sicao Battery on the west bank, it is one of the best-preserved "Chinese-style" forts from the early Qing dynasty, different from the Western-style forts of the modern era. At that time, there were multiple forts in the Anping area, and Anping Fort corresponds in scale and size to Anping Arsenal built by Shen Baozhen. In the 13th year of the Qing Tongzhi period (1874), the governor of Taiwan, Zhou Maoqi, carried out a major renovation of Anping Fort. After Taiwan's recovery in 1945, the Nationalist military built a bunker on the fort, and it underwent renovation again in 1990.