The Russian Orthodox Church is the main group of Eastern Orthodoxy in Azerbaijan. Many of its members are Russians. Azerbaijan is a mainly Shiite Muslim country which used to be part of the Russian Empire and the USSR. The Holy Myrrhbearers Cathedral, the Church of Michael Archangel and at least one further Russian Orthodox church exist in Baku.
History
The first Russian Orthodox church in Baku was built in 1815, two years after the Russo-Persian War (1804-1813) and the out coming Treaty of Gulistan, by which Qajar Iran ceded swaths of its Caucasian territories to Russia, which included Baku. Russian Orthodox churches had been built in Ganja and Şamaxı previously. In 1905, Baku Eparchy, nowadays Baku and Caspian Eparchy, was established. There used to be an Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Baku. In the Soviet area, there was persecution of Christians. In 1944, a Russian Orthodox church was reopened in Baku.