What connects the cathedrals of Ancient Rus', Soviet cultural centers, and modern residential complexes? How can we learn to 'read' buildings from different centuries and see in them the continuity of tradition, innovation, and complex relationships between clients and contractors? Is a decolonial perspective possible on Russian architecture, whose most impressive works were intended to demonstrate the power and scale of the empire, incorporating influences from all its territories? Architectural historian Lev Maciel Sanchez writes about how wooden and stone architecture reflected the tastes of princes, tsars, and general secretaries, international politics, the fates of individual architects, and the peculiarities of geography and building materials. 'Domes, Palaces, Community Centers' goes beyond capital construction, demonstrating how the peoples inhabiting the country were able to develop their own national architecture while subordinate to the Russian state.