Church of Saint James the Greater, Parish church in Jílovice, South Bohemian Region, Czech Republic

The Church of Saint James the Greater is a Gothic structure with pointed arch windows, stone walls, and the steep roof lines typical of medieval religious buildings. The facade shows the vertical proportions and decorative details characteristic of this architectural style in Bohemian villages.

The village built the church at its own expense in the mid-14th century as an early Gothic single-nave structure. It was a filial church of the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in Borovany until 1481, was assigned to the Suchdol parish in 1650, gained its own clergy in 1786, and has been a protected monument since 3 May 1958.

The annual three-day pilgrimage around the feast of Saint James the Apostle (25 July) fills the churchyard with a concert, brass music and fairground rides. The church also holds a 1720 pulpit and a granite baptismal font; the altarpiece of Saint James was painted by František Čermák in 1858.

The church stands on a slight rise in the centre of Jílovice. The Gothic north entrance and the south portal with its 1695 porch are the two ways in; the south porch bears the date ANNO DOMINI 1695 and a small statue of the Virgin Mary in a niche. The baroque parish house of 1786 stands next to the church.

The tower holds three bells: the largest (83 cm across) shows Saint James, the middle one Christ on the cross, and the smallest, cast in 1883 by A. Perner & syn of České Budějovice, shows the Virgin Mary with the Child. The same firm cast a death bell decorated with a nightmare, a snake and scales.