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.

A woman watches a Mariachi band play aboard a float during the Day of the Dead River parade on October 29, 2021 in San Antonio, Texas. People gathered in San Antonio to celebrate, commemorate, and remember departed loved ones for this year's Día de los Muertos. This year's celebration is newly returned after in-person gatherings and festivities were canceled last year due to COVID-19. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

A French bulldog named Rocket takes part in the annual Surf Dog Surf-A-Thon in Del Mar, California, on Sunday, September 7, 2025. (Photo by K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/Getty Images)

People look at huge waves crashing on the San Esteban de Pravia seafront, northern Spanish region of Asturias February 8, 2016. (Photo by Eloy Alonso/Reuters)

A police officer lies on the street after being run over by a bus during a protest against the increase in the price of public transport in San Cristobal, Venezuela March 29, 2016. (Photo by Carlos Eduardo Ramirez/Reuters)

A dog dressed in a costume takes part in the Pet's Halloween Day parade at El Olivar Park in San Isidro, Lima, October 31, 2015. (Photo by Mariana Bazo/Reuters)

Salvadoran clown Cosquilla poses for a picture during the VIII Central America Clown Convention in San Salvador, El Salvador, May 18, 2016. (Photo by Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

Central Palo Seco power station of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) is seen behind a cemetery, in San Juan, Puerto Rico on January 22, 2018. (Photo by Alvin Baez/Reuters)