I will review recent observations of the baryonic content of very distant 
galaxy clusters in their cold (galaxies) and hot (intra-cluster medium) phases,
whose formation and evolution are closely linked to each other. 
New constraints on the evolutionary state of the early type galaxies in 
clusters at z>1, their stellar masses, ages and star formation histories are 
obtained by a combination of studies with HST-ACS, VLT and Spitzer.  
Chandra and XMM observations of distant and nearby clusters are giving new 
insights on the evolution of the thermodynamical state of the X-ray emitting 
intra-cluster medium and its metallicity. 
The interpretation of these multi-wavelength observations is providing the 
first clues on the interaction between galaxy formation processes and 
intra-cluster medium, a vital input for theoretical models and simulations 
which try to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cosmic baryons.