French artist Gino rides the “Celestial Cyclo” tricycle built by him in Le Marais neighbourhood in Paris, France, August 15, 2015. (Photo by Pascal Rossignol/Reuters)

Model Alessandra Ambrosio poses for photographers during the red carpet for the movie “Spotlight” at the 72nd Venice Film Festival in northern Italy, September 3, 2015. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

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.

Sara Sampaio attends “The Killing Of A Sacred Deer” screening during the 70th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 22, 2017 in Cannes, France. (Photo by David Fisher/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Vancouver Canucks centerZack MacEwen (71) fights with Winnipeg Jets defenseman Derek Forbort (24) during first-period NHL hockey game action in Vancouver, British Columbia, Sunday, February 21, 2021. (Photo by Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press via AP Photo)

“Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky (August 30 1863 Russian Empire – September 27, 1944 Paris, France) was a Russian chemist and photographer. He is best known for his pioneering work in color photography of early 20th-century Russia”. – Wikipedia

Photo: Dinner during haying. Russian Empire, Novgorod province, county Cherepovets, 1909. (Photos by Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky via US Library of Congress and Prokudin-Gorsky.org)

P.S. All pictures are presented in high resolution. To see Hi-Res images – just TWICE click on any picture. In other words, click small picture – opens the BIG picture. Click BIG picture – opens VERY BIG picture (if available; this principle works anywhere on the site AvaxNews). Enjoy.

One of a members of the Franciscan Action Network and immigration rights activists is arrested during a demonstration calling for the end of immigrant detention on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 18, 2019. (Photo by Joshua Roberts/Reuters)

Models wait in backstage during the second day of the South African Fashion Week (SAFW), at the Mall of Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa on October 21, 2022. (Photo by Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)