Orphaned baby rhinos seen on August 28, 2014 in Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Ngare Ndare Forest, Kenya. Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya is hand-raising three orphaned baby rhinos; Nicky, Hope and Kilifi. Baby rhino Hope was rescued by rangers when the poachers killed his mother – now he is been taken care off 24 hours-a-day at Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. The wildlife reserve hit the headlines when Prince William proposed to Kate Middleton there in 2010. Rhinos around the world are becoming extinct as a result of the brutal poaching fuelled by an illegal international market for their horns. (Photo by Luca Ghidoni/Barcroft Media)

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.

“Nicholas II (Russian: Николай II, Николай Александрович Романов, tr. Nikolay II, Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov) (18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church. Nicholas II, his wife, his son, his four daughters, the family's medical doctor, the Tsar's valet, the Empress' lady-in-waiting and the family's cook were murdered in the same room by the Bolsheviks on the night of 16/17 July 1918”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Tsar Nicholas II (1868–1918) with his wife. (Photo by W. & D. Downey/Getty Images). Circa 1900

A goose walks on the road as Belarusian villagers take part in the Yurya religious rite to bring a good harvest in the village of Lutki, some 270 km south of Minsk, on May 6, 2019. (Photo by Sergei Gapon/AFP Photo)

Artists from the Beijing Dance Academy perform to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year in Budapest, capital of Hungary, February 6, 2019. (Photo by Attila Volgyi/Xinhua News Agency/Barcroft Media)

Italy is the latest country to boast a sеx doll brothel amid predictions the market for robot romps is “going to explode” world-wide. “LumiDolls”, which operates robot knocking shops in Barcelona and in Moscow is now opening a bot bonking branch in the Italian city of Turin on September 3, 2018. (Photo by Giulio Lapone/IPA/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

A model stumbles as she presents a creation by Swiss designer Albert Kriemler as part of his Spring/Summer 2020 women's ready-to-wear collection show for fashion house Akris during the Paris Fashion Week in Paris, France, September 29, 2019. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

British singer Rita Ora performs during the 43rd annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade at the SCG in Sydney, Australia, 06 March 2021. (Photo by Dan Himbrechts/EPA/EFE)