It is known that over 17,000 Greek citizens had been baptized in the St. John the Baptist Church from 1875 until they left the city in 1924 as a result of the Population Exchange Protocol between Turkey and Greece signed in the Treaty of Lausanne. While the Greek citizens were leaving the city, they took all the items belonging to the church including the great bell, which is being used in the Church of Xanthi now. From 1924 to 2011, the church has been left idle without any use.
