Out of the thousands of Orthodox churches in Russia, one which really stands out due to its unique and striking appearance is St Petersburg Chesme Church. It is known as the Chesme (or Chesmenskaya) Church as it was built between 1777 and 1780 to commemorate Russia's victory over the Ottoman Turks at the Battle of Chesme. Officially the church is known as St John the Baptist's Church at Chesme Palace. The neighbouring Chesme Palace was originally built as a traveller palace to serve the imperial family on their journeys from St Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo but is now used by the St Petersburg State University of Aerospace Instrumentation. The church was designed by Yuri Felten in the gothic revival style and it in reminiscent of a candy cone in appearance with is pink colour with vertical white stripes, which create an optical illusion that the church is rising up far into the sky. 

After the Revolution the church was used as a labour camp by the Bolsheviks and then as a storehouse. Having been damaged during the war, it was restored in the 1970s and then turned into a museum of the Battle of Chesme. Finally it was returned to the Orthodox Church in 1991 and reopened for worship. Located behind the church is the Chesmenskoe War Cemetery.