Construction of the Imperial Russian fortress began in 1833, based on a draft by the military engineer Karl Opperman. The article gives no completion date. Its star-shaped outline dates from that construction, and the Citadel sits on a central island formed by the Bug River and two branches of the Mukhavets.
A two-story ring of red brick barracks about 1.1 miles (1.8 km) long, with four semi-towers, held 500 rooms for 12,000 soldiers. Four gates once led into the Citadel, and only the Kholm and Terespol gates survive. Three bridgehead fortifications, Kobrin, Terespol and Volyn, surround it, with earthworks 33 feet (10 m) high and red brick casemates inside.
The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed here in 1918. The German attack began on June 22, 1941, and the article gives conflicting accounts of the defense: eight days in one, and until July 20 in Soviet accounts. The memorial complex opened on September 25, 1971.
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