Taiwan Provincial City God Temple

Traveler highlights

Taiwan Provincial City God Temple was established in 1947, carrying on the worship of the former Taipei Prefectural City God Temple, which had been demolished. Dedicated chiefly to the City God, it was later renamed to avoid the outdated reference to “Taipei Prefecture.” Visitors first encounter an ornate entrance and paper lanterns. Inside, the temple enshrines the City God and his wife, civil and military judges, and Guanyin. The Guanyin image was originally a folk Buddhist statue temporarily placed here and later became one of the temple’s symbols. After the old temple was demolished, its statues were distributed among other temples; postwar efforts to rebuild at the original site failed, and a new temple was eventually established in a former hospital on Wuchang Street. In 2011, the temple conferred the title Shengfu Mingling Wang on its City God, also known as the City God of the Capital. During the Northern Taiwan Mazu Cultural Festival, Mazu statues from different places stop here. The temple’s architecture, images, and festival traditions show how local worship has continued through Taipei’s urban changes.