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When the noble Butleriai, with the help of the Marian monks, began to build a new town in Marijampole, they realized that there must be a cemetery in it. The privilege given by the nobles in 1758 states that the Marians must establish a cemetery in the territory, between Šešupė and the orchards. It was a place both close to the church and together outside the town. The cemetery was close to Ražančkelis, which connected the Kvietiškis manor managed by Butleris and the Marijampolė church. These cemeteries are also depicted on maps made by the Prussians in the early 19th century. About a hundred men who died in the 1831 uprising lay in the cemetery.

 Because the plot of land was small and there was almost no spot, the cemetery was closed in 1850. During the press ban, book spreaders visited this place at night. On May 28, 1905, the first Lithuanian public performance “Amerika pirtyje” in Sūduva was performed in a large wooden club in the north-eastern corner of this territory (now on the northern side of Alyvų Street). After the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, the fate of the cemetery was unknown and the place was included in the list of heritage monuments to be protected by the state. On October 9, 2014, a monument created by the sculptor Julius Narušis was unveiled in the cemetery center.