In one of her letters Empress Catherine the Second commented on “construction mania” that had taken over her subjects. In fact, in the late 18th century only two to three percent of the 100,000 Russian nobles could afford an estate with a large manor with several wings, a stable, a greenhouse, a French- or English-style park, ponds, grottos and everything else that one imagines when thinking of a true estate. It is due to these 2-3 thousand “family nests” that were built that the phenomenon of Russian estate culture developed. One of the most vivid examples of this culture can be found outside of Moscow at the Arkhangelskoe Estate.