Kostel svatého Jakuba Staršího, Parish church in Lednice, Czech Republic

Kostel svatého Jakuba Staršího is a single-nave Gothic Revival parish church with a polygonal apse, built as part of the Lednice Castle complex and once used as the Liechtenstein family chapel. Buttresses with pinnacles, gargoyles and tracery divide the walls, and a balcony portico above the south portal carries statues of the Virgin and Child, St. James the Greater or Francis of Paola, and St. Methodius carved by Franz Högler.

Construction began in the mid-19th century as part of comprehensive renovations to the Lednice Castle estate. The chapel was built during a period of significant transformation of the property, when Gothic Revival aesthetics shaped regional architecture.

The church is the parish church of Lednice, not merely a castle chapel, though it also served the Lichtenštejn family as their castle chapel. Its neo-Gothic winged altar holds a central painting of the Holy Family by Franz Ittenbach, signed and dated 1861. The side altars of St Peregrine and the Virgin Mary also carry Ittenbach paintings, with wooden statues carved by Vincenz Pilz.

The church stands beside the Lednice Castle greenhouse area, within the castle grounds, and is still the parish church of Lednice na Moravě. The south facade is the one to look at: a balcony portico above the portal carries three statues by Franz Högler. The bell cast in Znojmo in 1616 still hangs in the tower.

The church is not a chapel but Lednice's parish church, once serving as the Lichtenstein castle chapel. Its stone Stations of the Cross, carved by the Viennese brothers Adolf and Franz Angler and delivered in 1856, are set unusually into the walls and loosely copy late Gothic reliefs by Adam Kraft of Nuremberg.