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 guard follows participants down a hallway in “Squid Game: The Trials”, an in-person interactive competition experience based on the Netflix show “Squid Games”, on December 20, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. At “Squid Game: The Trials” in Los Angeles, fans of all ages can relive the most emotional moments of Netflix's South Korean hit show – but there is a lot less blood and no one wins any prize money. (Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP Photo)

South Korean girl group KARA arrive during the 21st High1 Seoul Music Awards at Olympic gymnasium on January 19, 2012 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Lisa from Blackpink performs during the 2024 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York City, U.S., October 15, 2024. (Photo by Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

British artist Nnena Kalu's presentation during a press preview for the 2025 Turner Prize at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery in Bradford, Britain, 23 September 2025. The Turner Prize is awarded to a British artist for an outstanding exhibition or presentation during the previous year. The shortlisted artists are Nnena Kalu, Rene Matic, Mohammed Sami, and Zadie Xa. The 2025 Turner Prize is held at Cartwright Hall in recognition of Bradford's status as UK City of Culture 2025. (Photo by Adam Vaughan/EPA)

Law enforcement clashes with demonstrators outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, MDC, in downtown Los Angeles, California on June 8, 2025. US President Donald Trump deployed 2,000 troops on June 7 to handle escalating protests against immigration enforcement raids in the Los Angeles area, a move the state's governor termed “purposefully inflammatory”. Federal agents clashed with angry crowds in a Los Angeles suburb as protests stretched into a second night Saturday, shooting flash-bang grenades and shutting part of a freeway amid raids on undocumented migrants, reports said. (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP Photo)