North Pole Temple/北極殿/北極殿

ここは台南の「北極殿」という。中で祀られている神は北方の神だから、そういう名前になった。台南には古い廟がたくさんあるが、中にここは特に歴史が長いんだ。１６６５年鄭成功がオランダ人を台湾から追い出した後、この廟を建てたそうだ。

Here are some photos from the "North Pole Temple" in Tainan.  It's an odd name, but my translation is not incorrect.  It's called that because the god enshrined in the temple is the god of the north, and of cold, and stuff like that.  The temple is an old one; it was originally completed in 1665 by Jheng Cheng Gung after he had defeated the Dutch and driven them out of Taiwan.

這些照片是我在北極殿拍的。北極殿是在台南寺廟當中比較舊的。1665年鄭成功把荷蘭人打敗了之後他把這座廟建設。

歴史が長いというところ以外にもこの廟はかっこういいから見る価値がある。台湾の廟は一般的に赤色が多くて眩しいぐらい明るい。でもこの廟はわりと黒が多くて、落ち着いた雰囲気を具有している。

It's an interesting temple not only for its historical significance, but also for its design.  It's very dark.  Now, it's true, I was there at night, but that's not what I mean by dark.  What I mean is, the color-scheme used for the temple is very dark and subdued.  This is in stark contrast to most temples in Taiwan which are bright enough to be seen from space with a blindfold on.  I like it, and I think it's a lot classier this way.

北極殿不但很舊，樣子也很好看。跟別的廟比起來北極殿比較暗暗黑黑。一般來說台灣的寺廟紅色的部分很多，都絢麗多彩。但北極殿紅色比較少，黑色比較多。

こういう柱は普通は赤だけど、ここの柱は黒だ。

Usually columns like this would be bright red, but in this temple they're black.

圓柱也是黑色。一般台灣的寺廟是紅色吧。

Admittedly, the dark look to the place is helped a lot by coming at night.

夜の方が味が出る。

等日落後再來氣氛更好！

It's a neat temple, check it out!