Magnate residences have always enhanced the landscapes of Lesser Poland, Greater Poland and former eastern Borderlands. Some of them several centuries old, they have taken various architectural forms – from severe fortified castles to plush palaces surrounded by parks and gardens. Alas, just a few residences have survived to the present times, and fewer still have retained their former glory; a great number of the mansions perished in wars, while others deteriorated due to neglect, lack of funds, or interest. History has not treated kindly these pearls of residential architecture which also, as a rule, played the part of local centres of culture; thanks to these archival photographs we can imagine what they looked like in their glory days. With foreword by Wit Karol Wojtowicz, an eminent art historian and a long-time director of the Łańcut Castle Museum.