  In this thesis we study maximally supersymmetric solutions of gauged
supergravity theories, with special focus on anti-de Sitter solutions. The
latter are relevant in the context of the AdS/CFT correspondence. In the first
part we classify all maximally supersymmetric solutions of all gauged or
deformed supergravity theories in $D \geq 3$ space-time dimensions. In the
second part we exclusively study maximally supersymmetric AdS$_D$ solutions of
gauged supergravities in dimensions $D \geq 4$. We discuss the structure of the
allowed gauge groups as well as possible supersymmetry preserving deformations,
which correspond to the conformal manifold of the dual SCFTs.
