The Taiwanese Ministry of Culture and the Keelung Cultural Affairs Office have produced the documentary film Rediscovering San Salvador Fort on Heping Island, which tells the story of the discovery of the most important Spanish settlement during the 17th century in the city of Keelung in northern Taiwan.
A major archaeological project is currently underway here, which has uncovered the remains of the ancient Fort of San Salvador and the Church of All Saints, the most obvious evidence of Spain’s historical presence in Taiwan. To the northeast of Keelung City lies Heping Island, also known as ‘Hen House’, now connected to the city by two bridges. As Spanish professor José Eugenio Borao of the National Taiwan University explains in the documentary, the existence of the largest Spanish settlement in Taiwan in the period from 1626 to 1642 was identified there, thanks to old documents and maps. As a result, Taiwan and Spain launched a major joint research project to rediscover the island’s Spanish past, which has brought to light important archaeological artefacts as well as human remains that have been identified as being of European origin, based on genetic testing.
Historically, it is known that in 1626 the Spanish Empire moved a fleet of warships from Manila to the northern tip of Taiwan and established a small colony called Formosa Española. The Fort of San Salvador was built there to counter Dutch power in southern Taiwan and to safeguard Spanish interests on the sea route between China’s Fujian province and the Philippines. According to the documentary, the Spanish, in addition to their interest in maritime trade, promoted Catholicism from the Iberian Peninsula to Asia. This is evidenced, for example, by the discovery of the base of the stone wall of a church and a split Caravaca Cross (pictured). In the opinion of Mª Cruz Berrocal, professor at the University of Cantabria, who is leading the Spanish team involved in the archaeological research, the presence of such a symbol of Spanish origin testifies to the fact that there was a Catholic cemetery in the area.
