The oldest of its kind in Taiwan the National Taiwan Museum can be traced back to a showroom for the Bureau of Productive Industries (Shokusankyoku) erected by the colonial-era Taiwan Viceroy rsquo;s Office in 1899. The showroom rsquo;s displayed items were relocated to the Lottery Bureau behind the present-day Presidential Office and gave rise to the 1908 opening of Taiwan Viceroy rsquo;s Office Museum. During 1913 the Qing-dynasty Tianhou Temple in what is now the 228 Peace Memorial Park was torn down to make way for the ldquo;Viceroy Kodama Gentaro and Chief Civil Administrator Goto Shinpei Memorial Museum rdquo; which was a new project intended to house the Taiwan Viceroy rsquo;s Office Museum collection. It was rechristened the ldquo;Museum of Taiwan Province rdquo; in 1945 and ldquo;Taiwan Provincial Museum rdquo; in 1949 before receiving its current title ldquo;National Taiwan Museum rdquo; in 1999. Sitting at the other end of Guanqian Road from Taipei Main Station the National Taiwan Museum features a Grecian fa ccedil;ade with towering columns an acanthus leaves-embellished pediment and a domed hall accentuated by 32 columns each with an ornate Corinthian capital in addition to stained-glass skylights through which sunlight filters to cast dazzling patterns on the ground. While sentimentally bearing witness to Taiwan rsquo;s history the Museum offers exhibitions as well as irregular events on a scale much unchanged since its founding.