Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola in Jičín, Filial church in Staré Město, Jičín, Czech Republic.
The Church of Saint Ignatius of Loyola is a High Gothic hall church with three naves, the oldest surviving building in Jičín, located on Svobody Square next to the former Jesuit college. Its west side has a prism tower with a Baroque upper section, and the interior is covered by a barrel vault with lunettes decorated with early Baroque stucco.
The church is Jičín's oldest surviving building, built in High Gothic style probably at the city's founding around 1300 as the parish church of Saint James the Elder. Fires in 1572 and 1589 led to Renaissance rebuilding. When Albrecht von Wallenstein acquired the estate in 1623, the church passed to the Jesuits and was rededicated to Saint Ignatius of Loyola; after the 1681 fire they replaced the vault with a barrel vault with lunettes and early Baroque stucco.
The church was originally dedicated to Saint James the Elder and served as Jičín's parish church; in 1622 the patronage changed to Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder and patron of the Jesuits. The Marian altar holds a silver tabernacle and a painting of Our Lady of Ružany acquired from Russia in 1637. The side altars of Saint Anne and Saint John Nepomuk are late Baroque, with sculptures from the Jelínek workshop of Kosmonosy.
The church stands on Náměstí Svobody, a short walk west of Valdštejn Square and next to the former Jesuit college. Its main entrance beside the tower was walled up by the Jesuits, so access is through the present doorway. The upper tower was restored in 2017.
The church holds a painting of Our Lady of Ružín, brought from Russia in 1637, displayed on the Marian altar with its silver tabernacle. A north-side annex once served as a Holy Sepulchre and was later converted into a Lourdes grotto. Between 1995 and 2014, 500,000 CZK from the Programme for the Rescue of Architectural Heritage went to repairs.
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