The owners of castles—whose doors are closed to outsiders—invited us to visit. They opened their family archives, shared memories, and introduced us to the family ghosts. What is this book about? About a story that once intertwined with the history of Russia; about how castles were built and how life flowed through them in the Middle Ages; about dragons, of course—what castle is there without dragons! About those who try to be worthy of their title and their roots, and about those who fight for an inheritance. About strong women who managed to get ahead of their time and about the secrets of Catherine II’s diplomacy. And this book is also about love, in the past and in the present. The same families live in these castles: some have been here for two hundred years, and some—for already a thousand. No tourists come here. This is a home—the very one that is, quite literally, a fortress. What is it like to live in a castle in the 21st century?