kostel svatého Filipa a Jakuba (Nové Sady) Church

The Church of Saint Philip and James is a Roman Catholic church located in the Nové Sady district of Olomouc. It was built in the second half of the eighteenth century in the late Baroque style.

The original independent municipality of Nové Sady was razed to the ground before the Prussian siege of Olomouc in seventeen fifty-eight, so that Prussian troops would have nowhere to hide. After the war, the municipality was rebuilt further from the city. At the same time, it was decided to build a new church to replace the demolished chapel of the Holy Trinity, which was called Kostelíček.

Construction began in seventeen sixty-eight. The design was probably prepared by Václav Beda, an Olomouc builder. In seventeen seventy, the first mass was celebrated in the still unfinished church, and at the request of the parishioners, the church was dedicated to Philip and James. Local citizens also contributed to the construction. The roof was completed in seventeen seventy-three, and two years later the church was finished. The tower, however, received only a temporary top. It acquired a pyramid spire only in eighteen ninety-two. The church became a parish church in eighteen sixty.

The furnishings come from other churches. The main altar is from the demolished Church of the Virgin Mary on Předhradí, the baptismal font from the Church of Saint Maurice, the pulpit from the church in Dub, and the side altars from a Carthusian monastery. The original organ was destroyed by inadequate repair. In eighteen seventy-four, it was replaced by a new instrument from the Rieger brothers from Krnov, one of the oldest products of this firm in Moravia.

The church is a simple single-nave structure with a semicircular presbytery and a pyramid tower on the front façade. In the tower hangs a notable bell called Saint Blaze, which was cast in fifteen forty-seven by Franz Illenfeld, an Olomouc bell founder. The nave ceiling is decorated with eight fresco medallions from nineteen hundred and one. The main altar features a painting of Saint Philip and James by an unknown artist. In the presbytery hangs a copy of a Gothic painting of the Crucifixion of Nové Sady. Its original was sold to the National Gallery in nineteen thirty-five.

The church repeatedly suffered from dampness and cracks in the masonry. These were caused by changes in the ground resulting from frequent floods from the nearby Morava River. In two thousand and seven, it received a new roof and timber frame, and during the repair of the ciborium, a box containing period artifacts and documents was placed in the weathervane.

The original cemetery around the church was abolished in nineteen fourteen and planted with trees. In the new cemetery behind the church stands a heritage protected tomb of the Brďka couple from the early twentieth century. In front of the church is a sculpture of the Crucifixion from eighteen thirty-four, and beneath the trees is a memorial to the victims of the First World War.