West Central Dist.

Dajintou(大井頭)is an old well located on busy Minquan Road. The well mouth is sealed with an iron cover and there is an introductory sign at the roadside.

During the Japanese Colonial Period, urban planning and road building tended to have a circular design. Tang Te-chang Memorial Park(湯德章紀念公園) also has a circular design; it was the government center where the Tainan Prefectural Office, He Tong Building and other important government buildings were located. In the Japanese Colonial Period, it once had a statue of governor general Kotama Gentarō總(督兒玉源太郎) and was called Kotama Park(兒玉公園). This was replaced by a bronze statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen after World War II and the park renamed Min Sheng Green Park (民生綠園).

The Former Tainan Shinto Shrine Office and Garden(原台南神社事務所及外苑) and Tainan Butokuden were built at the same time and completed in 1936. They used similar materials and have similar styles. Some people believe the Office was actually the shrine’s Rest House; no matter what it’s use was, it is a beautiful Japanese Colonial Period building.

Many people’s impression of Si Dian Wu Temple(祀典武廟) is its Double Saddle Roof and red wall. It is one of the finest temples of Tainan. Built around 1665, it was the earliest Guan Di Temple(關帝廟)and one of the government sacrificial rites temples built at the time. It enshrines the awe-inspiring Guan Sheng Di Jun (關聖帝君).

Historical records show that when the Qing forces led by Shi Lan attacked Taiwan, Zhu Shi-gui, Ming dynasty Prince of Ningjing, resolved to die for his country; his five concubines decided to die too and hanged themselves from a beam in the palace. After they died, Zhu Shu-gui personally buried them and then committed suicide. Wufei Temple was built in 1683. It is a single courtyard and two-wing style building and has a small shrine at the side, Yi Ling Jun Tomb(義靈君墓), that enshrines two servants who died alongside the concubines.

Grand Mazu Temple was originally the Prince Ning Jing‘s Mansion(寧靖王朱術桂府邸). In 1683 Shi Lang led his army across the sea to Taiwan and defeated Zheng Ke-shuang. Afterwards, in order to win the hearts of the people, the Qing court converted the Ning Jing Mansion into a temple worshipping Mazu. It was the first government-established Matsu temple in Taiwan.

Chihkan Tower (赤嵌樓) is the oldest building in Tainan's West Central District (台南中西區), and along with Anping District's Anping Fort (安平古堡), are two of Tainan's most famous landmarks. Originally built as Fort Provintia (普羅民遮城) in 1652 by the Dutch, the building set the tone as the location of the administrative center of Tainan, and has gone through numerous repairs and refurbishments over the past 300 years to give it its current appearance.

The Wu Family Garden (吳園) is one of the most interesting historic sites in Tainan, and from Minquan Road (民權路) the first glimpse of the site will be of the Tainan Public Hall (台南公會堂) building constructed of a Baroque style, and which blends on one side into the Day Break 18 Teahouse (十八卯茶屋) built in a Japanese wood structure style and which features on another side a classical flower garden built in a Chinese style.

Passing through Tang Te-chang Memorial Park(湯德章紀念公園), it’s hard to miss this special building with its high tower. It is the He Tong Building (Meaning joint office building) (合同廳舍) built in the Japanese Colonial Period; the Fire-View Tower(火見樓) completed in the 1930s was the tallest structure in downtown Tainan at the time and was extremely important as most of the other buildings were made of wood. It was used to look out for fires in downtown Tainan. The fire station has the oldest fireman’s pole in all Taiwan.

The Japanese Patriotic Women's Association(台南愛國婦人會館) was the main women's group during World War II. Its members were mainly women with social status and high levels of education. The group's purpose was to care about local construction and provide social services, and this place was its Southern branch. The hall was built in 1920 with typical mixed Japanese and Western style architecture. After the War, it was managed by the Red Cross Society, and served for a time as the Tainan headquarters of the Kuomintang(國民黨台南市黨部).