Church of Saint James the Greater, Romanesque church in Jakub Církvice, Czech Republic

The Church of Saint James the Greater is a single-nave Romanesque church built of sandstone from a nearby quarry, closed to the east by a semicircular apse and to the west by a 30 m high square tower with two rows of triple round-arched windows. The long sides are divided by two rows of blind arcades holding Romanesque sculptures from the mid-12th century.

The church was consecrated on 19 November 1165 by Daniel I, Bishop of Prague, with King Vladislav II and Queen Judith present; the consecration document, the Autentika, was found in 1846 near the organ and is now in the National Museum in Prague. Hussite fighting under Jan Žižka and later Swedish troops in the Thirty Years' War damaged the sculpture. Joseph Kranner restored the nave in 1872–1874 and Josef Mocker the tower in 1883.

The village and church take their name from Saint James the Greater, the patron. In the apse, paintings by Peter Maixner show four scenes from the apostle's life, including his condemnation by Herod Agrippa and his martyrdom in 44 AD. Two bells cast in nearby Kutná Hora hang in the tower: the James Bell of 1504, decorated with the saint holding a pilgrim's staff, and the Joseph Bell of 1515.

The church stands in the village of Jakub, part of Církvice, roughly halfway between Kutná Hora and Čáslav. The sandstone building is entered through the south portal, whose Romanesque carvings are best seen in low morning or late afternoon light. A large renovation ran from 1999 to 2007, and the interior keeps 17th-century tombstones moved in from the former churchyard.

The south facade holds the largest surviving set of Romanesque sculptures in the Czech Republic, carved in the mid-12th century. They were not made for this church: cut-off legs and swords show they were trimmed to fit their niches. Their origin is uncertain, perhaps masons from Sedlec Abbey or sculptors at Vladislav II's court.