Gateway Church of St. John the Baptist

In the turn of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the sunset of traditional art was especially vivid and artistic forms attained an especial decorative quality that appear in so-called “Moscow Baroque” style of architecture. In this style the elegant and attractive Gateway Church of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist was erected in 1693-99 near the Red Gate, the main entrance to the Holy Trinity – St. Sergius Lavra. It was built on the grounds of the monastery with use of funds of the Stroganov merchants (“noted guests”).