The cemetery church in the name of the prophet Elijah in Paleh has existed since ancient times and was originally wooden. In 1790, it was built of brick, covered with shingles and green tiles on the dome. Later, the roof was replaced with a more practical iron covering. The architecture of the temple is easily readable: it is a two-light square with one dome, an attic tier reduced in plan, similar to the Church of the Exaltation of the Cross. To the east, it is adjoined by a semicircular apse, and to the west, an almost square refectory connects the temple with the bell tower. The bell tower is a low octagon with a tent and two tiers of sound windows, which seems to "grow" out of the narthex. Despite the fact that the church was built in the late 18th century, it reproduces the architectural traditions of the second half of the 17th century. The windows are adorned with frames with columns and three-lobed finials, and at the upper tier of the square, the middle part of the frames is arrow-shaped. The attic tier is decorated with kokoshniks on consoles, and similar windows are found on the facades of the refectory. The attic tier, reduced in plan, is decorated with arches of decorative kokoshniks on stepped consoles.

During the Soviet era, the temple was used as a storage for propaganda materials, which led to the paintings created by the masters of the Sofonov artel being painted over. The chapel next to the church was destroyed during the fight against religion, as were many tombstones. The Paleh cemetery was a kind of "necropolis of masters of arts," where generations of Paleh icon painters rested. Worship services in the Ilyinsky temple resumed in 1989, and the interiors were restored by the efforts of parishioners who revived the forgotten art of their ancestors.