There are five former Imperial country residences, five world-famous palace-and-park complexes around St Petersburg, which greatly add to the glory of the northern capital of Russia. This art book containing 150 colour plates accompanied by a vivid and authoritative text features the landmarks of Peterhof, Tsarskoye Selo, Pavlovsk, Oranienbaum and Gatchina. The lavishly illustrated survey provides an insight into the fascinating world of sparkling fountains, picturesque gardens and Romantic landscapes as well as the stately buildings and majestic interiors created by the best European and Russian architects in the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a brilliant period in the history of the Russian Empire.