Church of St. James the Greater

Church of St. James the Greater tickets: which one to buy

Saint James stands in a narrow street behind the Old Town Square in Prague, five minutes from the astronomical clock and entirely missed by the crowds that gather in front of it. Entry is free. The reason to come, beyond the interior, is the organ: the instrument is one of the largest in the country and the church runs a concert series that is genuinely musical rather than aimed at tourists, with tickets sold at the door and prices well below the string quartets touted on the square.

Walking tours of the old town include the church on the longer routes. Opening hours are short and the church closes over lunch and all day on Mondays, which catches people out. It is used as a parish church by the Minorite friars and closes for services without notice. Concert tickets are printed on the night and seating is unreserved, so arrive early for the nave.

Visiting Church of St. James the Greater: what to see

The friars settled here in 1232 and their Gothic church burned in 1689, after which it was rebuilt in baroque form and finished in 1702. The result is long, tall and narrow, the second longest church in Prague after the cathedral, with twenty-one altars lining the nave and a ceiling painted in fresco. The finest object is the tomb of Count Vratislav of Mitrovice, designed by Fischer von Erlach with sculpture by Ferdinand Brokoff, a theatrical composition in marble that takes up most of one wall.

The organ of the early eighteenth century was rebuilt and enlarged and now has several thousand pipes. Near the entrance, hanging on a chain from a pillar, is a blackened and shrivelled human arm. The story attached to it says that a thief tried to take the jewels from the Madonna and that the statue seized his wrist, so the guild of butchers cut it off; it has hung there for some four centuries. Thirteen of the side altars carry paintings by Czech baroque masters, several of them by Petr Brandl.

Church of St. James the Greater opening hours and the best time to go

The church opens in the late morning and closes in the middle of the afternoon, with a break at lunch and a full closure on Mondays, so a visit needs planning around hours that are shorter than almost anything else in the city. Organ recitals are usually in the evening and are the best way to hear the building; the acoustics are excellent and the programme is published on the parish site.

Prague is crowded from spring to autumn and over the Christmas markets; January and February are cold, cheap and quiet. The lane outside leads to the Powder Tower and the municipal house, and the meat market that once occupied this quarter gives the street its name. Allow half an hour, and stand at the west end to take in the length of the nave properly. The friary beside the church keeps a small cloister that opens for exhibitions a few times a year.