St John the Baptist's Church was built between 1774 and 1777 on the south-western outskirts of the city in the Krestitelskoe Cemetery which was opened in 1772. In the 1930s the church was closed, but briefly reopened again between 1942 and 1944. It was once again opened for good in 1960. Also located in the cemetery is a mass grave of Soviet soldiers who died liberating Oryol in 1943.