Another pretty church in the Sokolniki District is the Nativity of St John the Baptist Church in Sokolniki. The first church to stand here was built in the 17th century on the territory of the Stary Preobrazhensky Palace of Tsar Alexis. In the early 19th century the land was sold to merchants who built a factory here. Later the factory became a workhouse and orphanage and the current church dates from 1915 as part of this complex. In 1923 the church and workhouse were closed and later a new factory was opened here. In 1998 the church was returned to the Orthodox Church who restored it and made it a podvorye (embassy church) of the Russian patriarch. After a long dispute with the neighbouring factory, in 2009 the Orthodox Church was also recognised as the owner of some of the surrounding territory and of two buildings of the former workhouse.