page_title: Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)
hierarchical_section_title: Fort Zeelandia (Taiwan)
caption_attribution_description: 中文（台灣）‎: 台灣城殘蹟（安平古堡殘蹟） English: Fort Zeelandia, Anping District, Tainan City, Taiwan. This is a photo of a monument in Taiwan identified by the ID DA09602001448
context_page_description: Fort Zeelandia was a fortress built over ten years from 1624 to 1634 by the Dutch East India Company, in the town of Anping on the island of Formosa, the former name of Taiwan Island in Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of the island. The site had been renamed several times as Orange City, Anping City, and Taiwan City; the current name of the site in Chinese is 安平古堡.
  During the seventeenth century, when Europeans from many countries sailed to Asia to develop trade, Formosa became one of East Asia's most important transit sites, and Fort Zeelandia an international business center. As trade at the time depended on "military force to control the markets", the value of Formosa to the Dutch was mainly in its strategic position. "From Formosa the Spanish commerce between Manila and China, and the Portuguese commerce between Macau and Japan could by constant attacks be made so precarious that much of it would be thrown into the hands of the Dutch, while the latter's dealings with China and Japan would be subject to no interruptions."
context_section_description: Fort Zeelandia (Chinese: 熱蘭遮城; pinyin: Rèlánzhē Chéng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ji̍at-lân-jia Siâⁿ) was a fortress built over ten years from 1624 to 1634 by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), in the town of Anping (now wholly subsumed as Anping District of Tainan) on the island of Formosa, the former name of Taiwan Island in Taiwan, during their 38-year rule over the western part of the island. The site had been renamed several times as Orange City (奧倫治城), Anping City (安平城), and Taiwan City (臺灣城); the current name of the site in Chinese is 安平古堡(lit. 'Anping Old Fort').
  During the seventeenth century, when Europeans from many countries sailed to Asia to develop trade, Formosa became one of East Asia's most important transit sites, and Fort Zeelandia an international business center. As trade at the time depended on "military force to control the markets", the value of Formosa to the Dutch was mainly in its strategic position. "From Formosa the Spanish commerce between Manila and China, and the Portuguese commerce between Macau and Japan could by constant attacks be made so precarious that much of it would be thrown into the hands of the Dutch, while the latter's dealings with China and Japan would be subject to no interruptions."
  On behalf of the VOC, ships departing from Formosa could head north to Japan, west to Fujian, or south to Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, India, Iran or Europe.
caption: Wall of Fort Zeelandia
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