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.

Employees stand near an airframe for the second Antonov-225 Mriya plane at Antonov aircraft plant in Kiev, Ukraine, September 7, 2016. Ukraine hopes to attract $500 million of investment from China to complete an updated version of the world's biggest aircraft, the Antonov-225 Mriya, the president of manufacturer Antonov said on Wednesday. (Photo by Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters)

A woman hangs red chillies to dry outside her house at Khokana village on the outskirts of Kathmandu on August 5, 2020. (Photo by Prakash Mathema/AFP Photo)

Police detain a woman as people gather at a memorial site in Clapham Common Bandstand, following the kidnap and murder of Sarah Everard, in London, Britain on March 13, 2021. (Photo by Hannah McKay/Reuters)

Jake Paul (left) lands a punch to the face of Anderson Silva during a boxing match at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona on October 29, 2022. (Photo by Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports)

Model Nikita Dragun gets her hair and makeup touched up backstage at The Blonds fashion show at Spring Place on Wednesday, September 14, 2022, in New York. (Photo by Brittainy Newman/AP Photo)

A pelican on a lake in California in the first decade of January 2024 deftly snares a large trout after scooping it up, tossing it into the air and catching it in its bill. (Photo by Jiahong Zeng/Solent news)

A day-old lamb exploring new surroundings on the vernal equinox, considered the first day of spring, on March 20, 2019 at Coombes Farm in Lancing, England. (Photo by Andrew Hasson/Getty Images)