Stone Island, located in the north of Petersburg, belonged since 1765 to Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, heir to the throne and General Admiral of the fleet. By his order, in 1776, the construction of a hospice for disabled sailors, heroes of Chesma, was started on the island. At the same time, opposite the hospice, a church in a pseudo-Gothic style was laid according to the project of Felten, who was engaged nearby in the construction of a palace (the architect of which was Starov). The master stonemason Chiesa participated in its construction. Initially, the church was intended to be consecrated in the name of the apostles Peter and Paul and in honor of the Chesma battle. But the consecration of the temple took place on June 24, on the day of the Nativity of John the Baptist. It should be noted that this day was also a Masonic holiday, and the Grand Duke belonged to the lodges. The elegant structure, designed using Gothic forms, rose amidst the greenery of the park. The main volume of the church was pierced by pointed-arch windows. The bell tower and the round drum were topped with spires. The corner parts of the building were reinforced with buttresses, which were crowned above the cornice with small spires. The brick facades were not plastered. The pointed windows were highlighted with white casings. During later reconstructions, the open arched opening under the bell tower was bricked up. The outlines of the spires changed. The drum was covered with a conical top, and the bell tower with a four-sided pyramidal roof. The active Orthodox church is now located at the Kamennoostrovsky Palace. Many famous figures loved to rent summer houses on Stone Island: Derzhavin, Suvorov, and others. They all often visited the Ioannovskaya Church, and Pushkin even baptized three of his children there.