The gate church of John the Baptist was built over three years and completed in 1698, simultaneously with the construction of the Holy Gates. The Church of John the Baptist is distinguished by its unique appearance and is an outstanding architectural monument, harmoniously blending with the Church of the Holy Spirit. Many researchers suggest that it was designed by architect Yakov Grigoryevich Bukhvostov. The church appears light and directed upwards, and its outer walls and the Holy Gates are richly decorated with stone carvings. The main focus of the decoration is on the octagon, on the faces of which there are eight identical white-stone frames. Three of them contain windows, in the eastern one, a false window, and in the others, large ceramic figures of the evangelists, unique tiles that have survived to this day. In Russia, churches were often adorned with tiled images, but here they are not just 'squares' or 'stripes.' Between the windows on the faces of the octagon are large, almost human-sized, multicolored panels depicting the evangelists, which are clearly visible from the ground. The author of these tiled figures was master Stepan Polubes, known for his works in Moscow and its surroundings, as well as in the Joseph-Volotsky and New Jerusalem monasteries. These valuable bas-reliefs, like the seraphim for the refectory, were made in Moscow and purchased from the master in 1691. The Church of John the Baptist above the Holy Gates was built simultaneously with the eastern monastery wall and completed in 1698. This small two-tiered church, representing an octagon on a square base, is topped with an octagonal drum with a dome. The cubic form of the Holy Gates serves both as a pedestal and a porch for the church. These two structures, the church and the gates, are so well architecturally connected that they are perceived as a single entity. The architect used a tiered construction of volumes, solving their facades differently. The eastern facade, facing the outer side of the monastery wall, is designed like a passage tower of a fortress. The outer part of the gates with the apse of the church is pushed forward and designed strictly, almost without decoration. The small windows of the apse resemble loopholes. The severity of the facade is softened by the corner half-columns of the gates and a triple archivolt with a white-stone weight above the arch. The octagon, receding to the background, draws attention inside the monastery and invites the visitor to enter. The western facade of the gate church and the Holy Gates appears light and elegant due to the composition of three arches of the gates and the successful alternation of the tiers of the low square base with the high octagon and a small faceted dome. The central arch is marked by a white-stone weight and a triple archivolt. The side arches lead to open loggias, from which one can access the guard rooms. Between the arches on the facade stand slender paired half-columns with original capitals, supporting the cornice of the gates with a white-stone parapet, enclosing the gallery of the church, which occupies the second tier of the Holy Gates.