The Confucius Temple and Fuzhong Street

The Tainan Confucius Temple (臺南孔子廟) was founded in 1665 and is known as the First Academy of Taiwan (全臺首學). It sets the tone for the whole area around it: calmer, greener and quieter than the temple streets to the north. Opposite the temple, the little lane of Fuzhong Street (府中街) runs off under an old stone archway. Within a short walk you have the Great South Gate in its banyan park, two art museums, the Judicial Museum and the Koxinga Shrine. Much of it is free.

The fast version

• What: Taiwan's first Confucian temple, a café-and-craft lane, an old city gate, museums and shrines.
• Where: the south side of West Central, along Nanmen Road.
• When: the temple opens at 08:30, and mornings here are lovely. The museums close on Mondays.
• Cost: the temple is NT$70; Fuzhong Street, the gate and most museums nearby are free.

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The Confucius Temple

Red walls, old trees and very little noise. Since 30 January 2026 the whole compound is ticketed, not just the Dacheng Hall; buy at the East Dacheng Gateway on Nanmen Road. The biggest day of the year is the ceremony for Confucius's birthday on 28 September, which starts before dawn and draws big crowds.

• Hours: 08:30 to 17:20 daily, last tickets 17:00; closed on Lunar New Year's Eve
• Entry: NT$70; NT$35 for students over 6 and seniors 65 and over; free under 6 and for Tainan residents
• Address: No. 2, Nanmen Rd, West Central District

→ Confucius Temple guide

Fuzhong Street and the Pan Gong archway

The Pan Gong stone archway (泮宮石坊) was once the first entrance to the temple. It was carved in 1777, during the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty, and shipped to Tainan to be put up, and the city says no other Confucius temple in Taiwan has one like it. During Japanese rule, Nanmen Road was cut through between the archway and the temple, which is why it now stands on its own at the mouth of Fuzhong Street.

Fuzhong Street itself is short and easy: snack shops, cafés and small craft shops, at their best in the late afternoon. The Kaiji Yonghua Temple (開基永華宮) is the street's local gathering point, open 06:00 to 20:30. For coffee, Narrow Door Café (窄門咖啡) is close by, entered through a 38-centimeter gap between two old buildings.

Museums a short walk away

• Tainan Art Museum (臺南市美術館), in the 1931 Art Deco police station at No. 37, Nanmen Rd. Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, Saturdays to 21:00. NT$80. → Tainan Art Museum guide
• Judicial Museum, the former Tainan District Court, built 1912 to 1914. Tuesday to Sunday, 09:00 to 17:00. Free, with roof catwalk tours at 10:00 and 15:00.
• Former Tainan Martial Arts Hall (原臺南武德殿), built in 1936 and now a school assembly hall, so open to visitors on weekends only, 08:00 to 18:00.

Hayashi Department Store, the National Museum of Taiwan Literature and the other civic buildings are just to the north. → Hayashi and the civic core · Japanese-era Tainan

Gates and shrines to the south

• Great South Gate (大南門城). One of the best-preserved gates of the old city wall, close to the southern edge of the temple, standing in a park full of banyan trees. Its outer wall was built in a crescent, a design for fending off attackers. The city puts its age at nearly 290 years. Open 24 hours, free.
• Koxinga Shrine (延平郡王祠). A calm shrine to Zheng Chenggong, who drove the Dutch out of Taiwan. 08:30 to 17:30 daily, free.
• Wufei Temple (五妃廟). Further south, a small, green and quiet temple built in 1683 for the five concubines of the Ming prince Ningjing, who died rather than submit to the Qing. The city baseball stadium is across the street.

A walking order

1. Start at the Confucius Temple at 08:30, before the groups arrive.
2. Cross Nanmen Road to the Pan Gong archway and wander Fuzhong Street. Coffee here.
3. Pick one museum: the Tainan Art Museum or the Judicial Museum (not on a Monday).
4. Walk south to the Great South Gate and sit under the banyans for a while.
5. Finish at the Koxinga Shrine, or go on to the Wufei Temple if you still have energy.
6. For lunch, head back north toward the civic core, or west to Guohua Street.

→ Temple route · Chihkan Tower area · West Central old town

Sources

Sights, history and hours from Travel Tainan: Confucius Temple Cultural Park, Pan Gong Stone, Kaiji Yonghua Temple, Great South Gate and Wufei Temple. Museum hours and tickets from the Tainan Art Museum and the Judicial Museum, as on our museum pages. Confucius Temple hours and the 2026 ticket change as on our Confucius Temple page, from the temple's own visiting information and UDN. Checked October 2026.