Church of Saint James, Baroque church in Sokolov, Czech Republic.
The Church of Saint James is an early Baroque single-nave building with a narrower presbytery ending in a semicircular apse. Two rectangular two-storey projections flank the presbytery, giving the outer plan the shape of a Latin cross. A square tower with an octagonal upper section and a double onion dome stands at the west end.
A medieval church on the site is mentioned indirectly in 1290. Saxon troops burned the town on 18 May 1632 and damaged the church; a bell was hung again in the surviving tower on 3 August 1632. The old building was pulled down and replaced from 1671, when the foundation stone was laid on 23 March; Archbishop Matouš Ferdinand Sobek of Bílenberk consecrated the new church on 25 July 1673. Further baroque work followed in 1680–1681, and after a fire on 6 September 1873 the tower was repaired between 1877 and 1879.
The church holds regular Catholic services for the local community and contains numerous religious artworks, including decorated altars and detailed wooden carvings.
The building stands on the Old Town Square and opens regularly for visitors to explore its interior. You can walk through and view the artistic elements at your own pace from different angles.
A single stained-glass window survived the pressure wave of a bomb that fell near the Ohře bridge at the end of World War II: the Sacred Heart of Jesus behind the main altar, above the statue of Saint James. All the other windows were blown out.
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