The Citadel

The Citadel is the heavily defended headquarters of the Brotherhood of Steel in the Capital Wasteland in 2277. It is built into and beneath the ruins of the Pentagon. Located on the west end of Arlington Memorial Bridge, northeast of Arlington Library, it initially consists of four interior sections.

Background
The ruling council of the Brotherhood of Steel, based in the Lost Hills bunker in Southern California, decided to send a contingent of soldiers to the East Coast, to recover any and all advanced technology from Washington, D.C., as well as to investigate the reports of super mutant activity.

The Pentagon, as feared, was largely destroyed. However, its sub-levels remained intact and contained enough pre-War technology and weaponry to keep Brotherhood forces going indefinitely. But there was something else as well, Liberty Prime - a technological marvel that if restored could help the Brotherhood rebuild a strength and reputation that had been declining steadily for years.

The discovery was significant enough to earn Paladin Owyn Lyons a battlefield promotion to Elder, and a new directive from his superiors – to establish a new, permanent Brotherhood base in the Capital Wasteland and continue the search for any other advanced technology hidden in the capitol's ruins.

Lyons accepted his new post gladly and founded the Citadel, built into and beneath the ruins of the Pentagon. It was a fortress the Brotherhood of Steel desperately needed, and one they rushed to fortify.

With the add on Broken Steel, The Citadel can be targeted by the orbital missile platform controlled by the terminal in the Adams Air Force Base at the end of the quest Who Dares Wins. This destroys both the Air Force Base and the Citadel, revealing some helpful supplies beneath the ruins.

Exterior
The Citadel is a large fortress with walls of stone and steel. It retains its shape which gave it its name the "Pentagon" and has only a single entrance, a large metal gate usually guarded by multiple paladins and one sentry bot. A small corridor leads from the main gate to a door which provides access to the inner bailey.

The inside is inaccessible until you complete The Waters of Life segment of the main quest. Entry is scripted as part of the completion of this quest. Before then, the guard commander Paladin Bael will gruffly deny you entry.

Bailey
The fairly large bailey serves as a training and sparring area. Under the command of Paladin Gunny, new recruits practice various skills from unarmed combat to firearm usage. To this end, the bailey contains shooting ranges and other installations for combat practice. A large hatch in the middle of the courtyard connects to the Laboratory, although it cannot be used as an entrance by the player. The Laboratory and A Ring, sections of the buildings which surround the yard, can be accessed through doors opposite and next to the main entrance. There are several beds here for the player, as well as the initiates, to use.

Citadel - A Ring
The A Ring is a small sector within the Citadel which can be accessed directly from the bailey. The entrance is on the right when you enter the Citadel.

The A Ring contains the Lyon's Den, the Great Hall, the Library and entrances to B Ring as well as Citadel Laboratory. The Lyon's Den is the quarters of Lyons' Pride while the Great Hall serves as a briefing room for high-ranking Brotherhood members and the Pride. However, when observing them, they sit and do nothing.

In the library you can find the Vault-Tec terminal you need to consult as part of Picking up the Trail. Another terminal reveals some background information on the Maxson family and various tidbits of information about the history of the Brotherhood. Another terminal contains information on a UFO that crashed shortly before the war and a plan to send super mutants to China but it is obvious that after the bombs fell the super mutants escaped and spread across post-apocalyptic America.

Citadel - B Ring
The B Ring is another section within the Citadel which can only be reached from the A Ring via two doors in the back. It consists mostly of sleeping quarters for all Brotherhood of Steel members as well as a medical bay and the private quarters of Owyn Lyons and Arthur Maxson. Owyn Lyons' unique laser pistol is in his safe in his private quarters.

Squire Maxson's room contains has a hackable terminal in which, among various children's stories and other personal entries, you can find the location of a Guns and Bullets magazine under the bed in the Lyon's Den (A Ring).

The medical bay is home to Sawbones, a Mister Gutsy robot who is doctor of the Citadel, who Knight Artemis finds "creepy".

Citadel - Laboratory
The laboratory is the third sector of the Citadel, connected to both the bailey and the A Ring. It spans two levels and consists of the main working area, the armory and sleeping quarters for the Scribes. Various terminals with technical background information on weaponry are scattered all over the place.

The lab is naturally the working place for most of the Scribes, save those of the Order of the Quill. While they are conducting research on various fields such as threat assessment, weaponry and defensive technologies, their main focus is the work on Liberty Prime, a gargantuan pre-War robot and the main reason the Citadel base was established.

Scribe Rothchild, who is part of various main quests, is usually to be found in the area just in front of the robot, on the bottom level. In the vicinity of the robot dock there's also a terminal with progress information on the work on Liberty Prime which allows you to run a sound check.

On the wall at the bottom level there is a digital map display from which you can extrapolate the location of the Vault-Tec Vaults in the Capital Wasteland if you have not already found them. After Scribe Rothchild has used it to show you the location of Vault 87, the map markers will automatically be added to your Pip-Boy 3000.

The armory is located in an extra room on the bottom level and is run by Knight Captain Durga. She will only trade with you if you have Elder Lyons' permission which is easily obtained.

Inside the laboratory on the same floor you come in from, there is a room to the east. The companion Star Paladin Cross is located in that room, along with a set of power armor in low condition.

Citadel Armory
If you chose to destroy the Citadel in Who Dares Wins, you will find a door leading to the armory within the crater, and one on the far side of the circular path around the crater. This section is not to be confused with the regular armory located in the laboratory.

Within this armory, there is a terminal describing several "incident reports" and a wall-safe (unlockable through the terminal) containing Callahan's magnum

Inhabitants

 * ¹ After the quest Death From Above

Notable loot

 * A Duck and Cover! book in a crate in one of the stalls in the bathroom of the Citadel Lab.
 * A Guns and Bullets book under the rightmost bed in A Ring's "The Den" area. Just outside this room, in the lounge area, there's a Brotherhood of Steel holotag on a small curved table.
 * Smuggler's End, Elder Lyon's unique AEP7 laser pistol, can be found in his safe in B Ring's "The Solar" area. A Lockpick skill of 100 is required to open the safe. Occasionally it may be taken from the safe by non-player characters, in which case it must be either pick pocketed normally or reverse-pick pocketed.
 * 2 Tesla cannons in the Citadel Lab.
 * 2 Tesla cannons in the Citadel Armory.
 * Callahan's magnum in a safe in the Citadel Armory.
 * 3 mini nukes in the Citadel Armory.
 * 72 alien power cells in the Citadel Armory.
 * 3 Nuka-grenades in the Citadel Armory.
 * If you decide to blow up the Citadel in the conclusion of Who Dares Wins, you can obtain Callahan's magnum in the lower section in the ruins of the Citadel.

Appearances
The Citadel appears only in Fallout 3. The Citadel is mentioned by Father Elijah in the Fallout: New Vegas add-on Dead Money, implying that the Citadel flourishes after the events of Fallout 3 and that word of it eventually reaches the original Brotherhood of Steel and the Mojave Chapter.

Bugs

 * There are at least two Brotherhood of Steel Initiates using the firing range, and one is firing a laser rifle. Nobody will become hostile if you shoot the laser rifle out of his hands, and he will start throwing frag grenades at the target. Many of his throws will either be off target or ricochet in various directions, causing numerous casualties among the nearby Brotherhood of Steel. When attempting this by using V.A.T.S., it is possible that if targeting the "weapon" too many times, the Initiate will take out a grenade almost instantaneously after the rifle is shot. If this happens you may accidentally shoot the grenade and kill the Initiate and anybody close.
 * The radio in the bailey will continue to play GNR as if Three Dog is still alive after the player has killed him.
 * If you pickpocket the ammunition from the Initiate with the 10mm pistol, he will continually reload. Eventually he will aim down sight and not move or shoot.
 * It is possible to gain access to the Citadel as early as level 2 through a nearby hole south of the Citadel. The player can then speak to Paladin Gunny and receive Power Armor Training.
 * It is possible for Angela Staley to spawn outside the Citadel upon fast traveling. She is capable of all her dialogue options as if she was in Rivet City. She immediately begins walking back to Rivet City, but can be spoken to.
 * With Broken Steel installed and the main game's storyline has been passed, Brotherhood members that have been killed here will not respawn. Even if you didn't perform the kill.

Behind the scenes

 * "The Citadel" was the original name of the Cathedral of Fallout in early design documents (like the Vault 13: A GURPS Post-Nuclear Adventure timeline).
 * The Citadel's name may be a nod to the Citadel Star Station from the game "Wasteland", which heavily inspired the first Fallout game.