While communism, collectivism, worms, dry rot and casual looting failed to destroy the majestic wooden churches of Russia, it may be ordinary neglect that finally does them in. Dwindled now to several hundred remaining examples, these glories of vernacular architecture lie scattered amid the vastness of the world’s largest country. Just over a decade ago, Richard Davies, a British architectural photographer, struck out on a mission to record the fragile and poetic structures. Austerely beautiful and haunting, “Wooden Churches: Traveling in the Russian North” (White Sea Publishing; $132) is the result. Covering thousands of miles, Mr. Davies described how he and the writer Matilda Moreton tracked down the survivors from among the thousands of onion-domed structures built after Prince Vladimir converted to Christianity in 988.

“Nicholas II (Russian: Николай II, Николай Александрович Романов, tr. Nikolay II, Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov) (18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church. Nicholas II, his wife, his son, his four daughters, the family's medical doctor, the Tsar's valet, the Empress' lady-in-waiting and the family's cook were murdered in the same room by the Bolsheviks on the night of 16/17 July 1918”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Tsar Nicholas II (1868–1918) with his wife. (Photo by W. & D. Downey/Getty Images). Circa 1900

Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej in serious portrait January 01, 1960. Thailand's Royal Palace said on Thursday, October 13, 2016, that Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, has died at age 88. (Photo by John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Online clothes seller, Kanittha Thongnak, 32, applies zombie makeup before she starts livestreaming selling dead people's clothes in Bangkok, Thailand on October 10, 2020. (Photo by Jiraporn Kuhakan/Reuters)

Actress Marilyn Monroe poses for a portrait in a bathing suit and high heels with a bottle of Coca-Cola in a glass on a table behind her in circa 1953. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Kritchaya “Lolita” Boonhor (R) curls her eyelashes in ladyboy Candy's (L) room while she chats her about her boyfriend, in Bangkok, Thailand, 27 November 2017. Most things in life are a question of negotiation. Lolita is a woman, that was not to be negotiated. What needed to be negotiated was how she was perceived by those around her. And that negotiation was one that took time and effort. (Photo by Lola Levan/EPA/EFE)

In this photo taken with long time exposure, a woman wears a hat at Churchill Downs before the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby horse race Saturday, May 4, 2019, in Louisville, Ky. (Photo by Charlie Riedel/AP Photo)

Romanian military doctors and medical students sit on a bus behind steamy windows before the National Day parade in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, December 1, 2016. Military planes and helicopters flew over the Romanian capital Thursday as thousands turned out to celebrate the national day, marking the date when the country reunified with Transylvania in 1918. (Photo by Vadim Ghirda/AP Photo)