Huwei Fort (New Taipei City Tamsui Historical Museum) Introduction
When it comes to Tamsui's historic sites, do you only think of Fort San Domingo? Actually, about a 15-minute walk from Fort San Domingo, there is an old fortress known as Huwei Fort, a coastal artillery fort built in 1886 under the supervision of Liu Mingchuan, the first governor of Taiwan. It once served as a military stronghold guarding the Tamsui Harbor. Although the large cannons are no longer visible today, the walls and remnants of the gun positions still reveal its significant status a century ago. It was officially designated as a national second-class historic site in 1985. Its elevated geographic location and sturdy construction create a magnificent fortress, making it one of the best military fortifications from the 19th century, as well as an important coastal defense facility during the modernization of Taiwan in the Qing dynasty. After the Sino-French War, the Qing court decided to strengthen Taiwan's coastal defense constructions by building ten forts at five ports: Penghu, Keelung, Tamsui, Anping in Tainan, and Cijin in Kaohsiung to aid in defense. In 1886, Governor Liu Mingchuan invited German engineer Paul von Lüttwitz to supervise the construction of these ten forts based on the Western-style fortifications, with Huwei Fort being one of them. Huwei Fort is located at the first station of Wuhugang in Tamsui, positioned at a high point where it once offered unobstructed views of the Tamsui River estuary and Guandu Bridge, though those views are now blocked by trees. Huwei Fort faces south, with the New Taipei City Martyrs' Shrine to the west, the Taiwan Golf Course to the east, and the Cloud Gate Theatre to the north.
