Kostel svatého Jakuba Staršího (Litoměřice) Church

The church is located on Dominican Square and is protected as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic. For the first time, it was mentioned in 1233, when the oldest monastery in the city was mentioned by the medieval pilot Beneš Minority. The Prague Bishop Jan II. z Dražic founded it for the Franciscan-Minority who lived and served here. Conventional buildings were created together with the church and were part of the city fortification. The oldest form of construction is not known; It is only assumed that the church stoned originally in the south while the monastery buildings occupied the north.

At the end of the 14th century the church received rich support - around 1390 it was donated by Ješek Kamenický z Čakovic, which probably led to more advanced reconstruction. The Hussite Revolution of 1421 brought devastation. But the temple was restored after its completion. A worse fate awaited him during the Thirty Years' War - he was destroyed and for many years he was in ruins.

Rebirth occurred after the battle on White Mountain. The first post-white mountain reconstruction took place between 1662- 1667. But the monastery continued to fight the trials - in 1714 the devastating fire destroyed it. The following repairs have become more extensive. In 1715 the presbytery was almost finished and it was built on the main ship of the church. There was a contract with the architect, probably Octavius Broggie, who simplified the project in 1716. Today's late Baroque form of the church was gained in 1730-1740. The consecration took place on July 14, 1750, long after Broggie's death. In 1752 the ship was completed, and in 1758, when St. Anne's altar was set, the temple was finally closed - other equipment was installed until 1781.

Architecturally, it is a single-boat building with a demistered semi-circular apside, which is complemented by monastery buildings in the north. The facade without towers is two-stage, decorated with high stacks of pilaster bundles on the corners. The main rims are dedicated to the shield attachment with volute wings and the statue of St. James. The south side has an axis risalite with a triangular shield. The high pilasters and windows with three-piece enchantments highlight the late baroque and rokaja style.

In the interior the visitor is welcomed by the plaque and lunette vaults, which are separated belts on drawn pilaster bundles. The organ ring in the west has a wavy breast and protects the end of the presbytery in the form of a semicircle. The equipment deserves the attention of the Rococo altar of St. Vincent Ferrersky from the artificial marble (half of the 18th century) with the statues of St. Augustine and Bl. Henry Susa, and the altar of St. John Nepomuk and the pulpit from the end of the 18th century by the statue of St. James.

The Minorites served in the temple until 1877 when the Dominicans replaced them. After the 1950s Communist Action K, which abolished the men's monasteries, took over the administration of the church's lithomeric deanery, which managed it so far. The church remains a link between medieval piety, baroque glare and today's Catholic life in Litoměřice.