Challenger Deep Submersible is shown for the first time at the Virgin Group Media Announcement by the President & CEO of Virgin Airlines Sir Richard Branson at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club on April 5, 2011 in Balboa, California. (Photo by John M. Heller/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.

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.

President Woodrow Wilson speaks on telephone. Woodrow Wilson was the 28th U.S. President serving from 1913 – 1921. (Photo by Corbis)

The model Dovima in a suit and cloche hat at Les Deux Magots cafe in Paris, France in 1955. (Photo by Richard Avedon/The Richard Avedon Foundation/The Guardian)

Alan Wilson, Director of James Ritchie & Son clockmakers, founded in 1809, adjusts a clock face at the Cannongate Tobooth to British Summer Time on March 21, 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Tolbooth, built in 1591, was where tolls and public dues were collected. The clock face dates back to 1820 and replaced an earlier clock from the 17th Century. Clocks will be put forward by one hour on Sunday March 25, 2012 at 1.00am and British Summer Time (BST) will officially start. (Photo by Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)

The annual Antarctic photography exhibition, which is part of Hobart’s Antarctica festival is back on with its chilly, majestic imagery. The winner this year is Sydney’s Sam Edmonds with his striking photo of a gentoo penguin in the snow. Here: Casey Station 2017. (Photo by Chris J. Wilson/The Guardian)

Artist Richard Neave admires the sculpture “Sprinting” that he created with Denise Smith on March 12, 2012 in London, England. The model shows the body of elite athlete, Richard Whitehead, and forms the centre piece at the Anatomy Of An Athlete Exhibition opening at the Hunterian Museum. (Photo by Bethany Clarke/Getty Images)