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.

“Bear Grylls, (born Edward Michael Grylls, 7 June 1974) is an English adventurer, writer and television presenter. He is best known for his television series Man vs. Wild, known as Born Survivor in the United Kingdom. He was the youngest Briton to climb Mount Everest, doing so at age 23. In July 2009, Grylls was appointed the youngest ever Chief Scout at the age of 35”. – Wikipedia

Photos: Passer inspects “Camelot”, a replica camel carcass simulating that used by adventurer Bear Grylls to shelter in the Sahara desert during an episode of the Discovery Channel's “Man Vs. Wild”, in Wynyard Park on March 1, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Discovery Channel via Getty Images)

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.

Birds fly over the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, western Japan July 29, 2015. On August 6, 1945, the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing about 140,000 by the end of the year in a city of 350,000 residents, in the world's first nuclear attack. Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Influenced by the shadows scorched into outdoor surfaces by the heat of the blasts 70 years ago, Reuters photographer Issei Kato pays homage to survivors, residents and historic buildings in both cities in a personal project that captures the shadows of today. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

Rescue workers help the injured at the site of a multi-storey building collapse in the capital Nairobi, Kenya Sunday, January 4, 2015. The residential building in the Huruma neighborhood of Nairobi collapsed on Sunday and according to the Kenya Red Cross, a dozen people have so far been rescued but an unknown number are still feared trapped. (Photo by AP Photo)

A relative, right, breaks down as rescuers carry the body of a victim after 14 coaches of an overnight passenger train rolled off the track near Pukhrayan village Kanpur Dehat district, Uttar Pradesh state, India, Sunday, November 20, 2016. Dozens were killed and dozens more were injured in the accident. (Photo by Rajesh Kumar Singh/AP Photo)

A woman sits on the rubble of her house in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake in Kahramanmaras, Turkey on February 14, 2023. (Photo by Nir Elias/Reuters)

Frida, a rescue dog belonging to the Mexican Navy, with her handler Israel Arauz Salinas, takes a break while participating in the effort to look for people trapped at the Rebsamen school in Mexico City, on September 22, 2017, three days after the devastating earthquake that hit central Mexico. (Photo by Omar Torres/AFP Photo)