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.

Journalists (L) walk along the new Caminito del Rey (The King's Little Pathway) in El Chorro-Alora, near Malaga, southern Spain March 15, 2015. Dubbed by many media outlets as the world's scariest pathway, the three-kilometre long pathway, which was built at about 100 metres (330 ft) above the gorge of Los Gaitanes between the years of 1901 and 1905, was closed in 2001 after five people died. A new walkway has then been built over the old walkway and will open to the public on March 28, 2015. (Photo by Jon Nazca/Reuters)

A combination photo shows Fata Kovacevic reacting near her flood-damaged house during floods May 20, 2014 (top) and the same place after floods October 8, 2014 in Topcic Polje. (Photo by Dado Ruvic/Reuters)

Villagers look on as Mount Sinabung volcano spews thick volcanic ash, as seen from Beganding village in Karo, North Sumatra province, on May 19, 2017. Sinabung roared back to life in 2010 for the first time in 400 years. After another period of inactivity, it erupted once more in 2013 and has remained highly active since. (Photo by Ivan Damanik/AFP Photo)

Dancers prepare before a performance in the backstage area of the Buick exhibition during the “Auto China 2014” Beijing International Automotive Exhibition in Beijing on April 21, 2014. Leading automakers have gathered in Beijing for the kickoff of China's biggest car show, but lackluster growth and environmental restrictions in the world's largest car market have thrown uncertainty into the mix. (Photo by AFP Photo)

A boy runs with a burning barrel soaked in tar at the annual Ottery St Mary tar barrel festival on November 5, 2015 in Ottery St. Mary, England. The tradition, which is over 400 years old, sees competitors (who must have been born in the town to take part) running with burning barrels on their backs through the village, until the heat becomes too unbearable or the barrel breaks down, starting with junior barrels carried by children and continuing all evening with ever larger and larger barrels. The event, which has been threatened with closure on previous years due to increasing public liability insurance costs, raises thousands of pounds for charity and attracts spectators from around the world. (Photo by Matt Cardy/Getty Images)

Revellers in Newcastle, England on the last Friday before Christmas, December 20, 2019. Black Eye Friday festive mayhem hit the nation; Christmas celebrations kicked off with a bang across the country as revellers flocked to pubs and clubs for the biggest night of the year. (Photo by Scott Heppell/PA Images via Getty Images)

A member of the contemporary circus company Cirk La Putyka perform on the mobile trampoline as he amuses local residents in Prague, Czech Republic, 09 April 2020. The aim of the Cirk La Putyka events in the streets of Czech capital is to get live art back to people during the lockdown. According to them, when people can't go to the artists, to the theater, the actors go to the people. The Czech government has imposed a lockdown in an attempt to slow down the spread of the pandemic COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. (Photo by Martin Divisek/EPA/EFE)