Brest Fortress Brest Fortress ( , ' ; , ' ; ) , formerly known as Brest - Litovsk Fortress , is a 19th - century Russian fortress in Brest , Belarus . It is one of the most important Soviet World War II war monuments commemorating the Soviet resistance against the German invasion on June 22 , 1941 ( Operation Barbarossa ) . Following the war , in 1965 the title Hero - Fortress was given to the Fortress to commemorate the defence of the frontier stronghold during the first weeks of the German - Soviet War . It was then part of the Byelorussian SSR . The title Hero - Fortress corresponds to the title Hero City , that was awarded to an eventual total of twelve Soviet cities . History . Originally it was the largest 19th - century fortress of the Russian Empire , one of the western Russian fortresses . It is located at the confluence of the Mukhavets and Bug rivers with total area 4 km² . Its layout was developed by Russian general K . I . Opperman in 1830 and the initial phase of the construction lasted from 1836 until 1842 . The fortifications were then progressively modernized and expanded throughout the 19th century , with forts added around the original fortress . The final works were carried out in 1914 , the first year of World War I , culminating in a fortified area 30 km in circumference . The fortress was captured by the German army in August 1915 , after the Russian army abandoned it during its general withdrawal from Poland that summer . The fortress changed hands twice during the Polish - Soviet War and eventually stayed within Polish borders , a development that was formally recognised by the Treaty of Riga in 1921 . In 1930 , the fortress became notorious in Poland as a prison in the aftermath of the so - called " Brest elections " and the Brest trial . During the Invasion of Poland in 1939 , the fortress was defended for four days by a small garrison of four infantry battalions and two tank companies under Gen . Konstanty Plisowski against the XIX Panzer Corps of Gen . Heinz Guderian . After four days of heavy fighting , the Polish forces withdrew southwards on 17 September . On 17 September 1939 , the control over Brest city and the Brest Fortress was transferred from Germans to the Soviet Union . In the summer of 1941 , it was defended by Soviet soldiers against the German Wehrmacht in the first days of Operation Barbarossa , earning it the title of Hero Fortress . The fortress had become a symbol of the Soviet resistance during the German - Soviet War , along with Stalingrad and Kursk , among others . Fortress layout . The Brest fortress has sustained its original outline of a star shaped fortification since its construction in the early 19th century . The Citadel , the core of the fortress , was on the central island formed by the Bug River and the two branches of the Mukhavets River . The island was skirted by a ring of a two - storied barrack with 4 semi - towers . The 1 . 8 km long barrack comprised 500 rooms to accommodate 12 , 000 soldiers within thick walls built from super strong red bricks . Originally there were 4 gates to enter the Citadel . Today only Kholm Gate and Terespol Gate can be seen , most part of the barrack lies in ruins . The Citadel was surrounded by 3 fortification s as bridgehead s , that were made up by branches of the Mukhavets River and moat s ( ditches ) , fortified by earthworks 10 m high with redbrick casemate s inside . The 3 fortifications were named after two towns : Kobrin in Belarus , Terespol in Poland and Volyn , a region in the Ukraine . The Kobrin Fortification was the biggest in the fortress , located in the northeastern part , shaped like a horseshoe , featured 4 fortification curtains , 3 detached ravelin s and a lunette in the western part , East Fort and West Fort . The Terespol Fortification was the western bridgehead , featuring 4 detached lunettes . The Volyn Fortification was the southeastern bridgehead , featuring 2 fortification curtains with 2 detached ravelin s . A ring of outlying fort s was built later around the old citadel . As the post - 1945 border along the Bug river runs through the fortress area , many of the fortification works are now in Poland , around the town of Terespol . World Heritage Status . This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on January 30 , 2004 , in the Cultural category .