page_title: Tainan
section_title: Tourism
hierarchical_section_title: Tainan / Tourism
caption_attribution_description: 中文（繁體）‎: 文昌閣
context_page_description: Tainan, officially Tainan City, is a city in southern Taiwan. The city proper is a special municipality facing the Formosan Strait or Taiwan Strait in the west and south. Tainan is the oldest city on the island of Taiwan and also commonly known as the "Capital City" for its over 200 years of history as the capital of Taiwan under Koxinga and later Qing rule. Tainan's complex history of comebacks, redefinitions and renewals inspired its popular nickname "the Phoenix City".
  As Taiwan's oldest urban area, Tainan was initially established by the Dutch East India Company as a ruling and trading base called Fort Zeelandia during the period of Dutch rule on the island. After Dutch colonists were defeated by Koxinga in 1661, Tainan remained as the capital of the Tungning Kingdom until 1683 and afterwards the capital of Taiwan Prefecture under Qing Dynasty rule until 1887, when the new provincial capital was moved to Taipei. Tainan has been historically regarded as one of the oldest cities in Taiwan, and its former name, Tayouan, has been claimed to be the origin of the name "Taiwan".
context_section_description: Tainan has a tangible sense of history and is the site of several spectacular religious festivals. As well as its string of forts, the first capital of Taiwan has some 300 ancient sanctuaries, from the island's first Confucian temple to its first Taoist temple.
caption: Fort Provintia is located at West Central District.
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