"The Fifth Fort" is a unique fortification monument of the late XIX – early XX century. It is three kilometers south of the Brest Fortress. Besides the architecture and history, this fortification is unique due to its natural resources. Different plants grow there and it is home to rare species of bats.

The Fifth Fort was built in 1879–1880 as the foremost fortification of the Brest Fortress. In the course of the modernization of 1886-1889 a barrack was built in the fort.

For shelling the open ditch two caponiers (six and four cannons) and two half-caponiers (three cannons each) were built.

In 1906–1913 under the direction of a military engineer Ivan Bialinski the fort was rebuilt. The caponiers and half-caponiers were rebuilt, concrete underground tunnels and military storage for infantry and artillery were made. Three observation posts were erected.

During the First World War, in August 1915, the fort, as well as other fortifications of the Brest-Litoǔsk fortress, was abandoned by the Russian army. Most of the forts were undermined by Russian sappers during the retreat, but the fifth fort remained intact. From 1915 to 1918 the Kaiser's troops were deployed at the fort. From 1921 to 1939, when Brest was the centre of Palessie Voivodeship of Poland, the fifth fort contained indent depots of the 9th zone of the Polish Army. Since April 1941 the fort was occupied by a battalion of the Soviet Army.

On June 22, 1941, in the course of the battle, the fort was captured by the German Wehrmacht. In July 1944 the Soviet soldiers came back there again. After the war the fort housed the military depots, and since the 1970s the fort has not been used for military purposes.

In 1995, the Fifth fort was included on the list of the Belarusian historical and cultural values. On May 1, 1999 it became a branch of the memorial complex "Brest Fortress-Hero".

Publication date: 11.07.2019.

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