Taiwan · 19th century
The Eternal Golden Castle (Chinese: 億載金城), alternatively but less well known as Erkunshen Battery (二鯤鯓砲台), is a defensive castle in Anping District, Tainan, Taiwan.
The castle was built in 1874 and completed on 1876 by the famous Qing official Shen Baozhen in order to safeguard the coast and to defend the island against Japanese invasions. This military facility saw its first action in the Sino-French war of 1884. When Taiwan was ceded to the Empire of Japan by the Qing in 1895, the Taiwanese people fought under the Republic of Formosa banner against the invading Japanese battleships from this fortress. Under Japanese control this military facility lost its value. Its value is completely lost when during the Russo-Japanese War the imperial Japanese government sold some of the fort's cannons.
There is a park near the castle grounds where people can enjoy picnics, as well as rental paddle boats for people to sail around the castle. There are occasional music performances in the evening, and actors sometimes fire the last remaining artillery gun in the castle to give visitors a fully immersive experience.
By driving: Take the Yongkang Interchange (Exit 319) of Freeway 1 and head in a south-westerly direction. By public transport:
Text adapted from “Eternal Golden Castle” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Eternal Golden Castle ranks #2,041 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #4 of the 21 mapped in Taiwan. Founded 1874, it is older than 6% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 717 atlas entries founded in the 19th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 2,363 times in the last 60 days, more than 73% of the atlas. 4 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Tainan, 3 km away. See how Taiwan compares in the castle statistics.
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