The fortress in Bender, also known as Bendery or Tighina, has a 600 year old history. Its existence testifies to the role of the Dniester River as an international border throughout history.

Originally built by Turkish forces at a time when the Dniester river marked the border to Russia, the Bender fortress first fell to Russia in 1770. On 15 September 1770, after a two-month siege, Russian general Panin took the fortress after heavy losses in bloody hand-to-hand fighting. The taking of fortress took a high price: During the siege and the subsequent assault, Russia lost more than 6,000 people and the Turks lost more than 5,000, prompting Catherine II of Russia to say: "Losing so many and gaining so little, it would have been better to not take Bender."

In 1774, the fortress reverted to Turkish rule and five years later, in 1789, it came into Russian hands again with the actions of General A.V. "never-lost-a-battle" Suvorov. Signing a peace treaty two years later, in 1791, the fortress and all of Bender again reverted to the Turks. This time, they kept it for fifteen years, until November 1806 when General Meyendorf made it Russian once more. Since then, Bender has marked the border of the extent of Slavic interests; having a pro-Slavic population, orientation and culture.

Despite its location on the "wrong" side of the Dniester, its population voted in a referendum in 1990 to join Pridnestrovie in its declaration of independence and to retain the traditional Russian orientation of the city.

» Bender, PMR's second largest city