Church of Saint James the Greater (Kunratice)

The Church of Saint James the Greater in Kunratice is a Baroque Roman Catholic church located in the Kunratice district in the southern part of Prague. The single-nave building stands out for its richly decorated interior and its unusual circular ground plan, a layout rarely used in Czech church architecture of its period.

How far back does the history of this site go?

A place of worship stood here long before the current building. The first written record of the Kunratice parish dates from 1352, while an earlier, early-Gothic parish church had likely already been built on the site by the end of the 13th century, originally surrounded by a cemetery. The right to appoint the parish priest belonged at that time to the Prague noble family of Bohuslavic.

Who commissioned the present Baroque church?

The church owes its current form to Jan Arnošt Václav, Baron Goltz, who became owner of the Kunratice estate in 1721 and had the local chateau rebuilt around the same period. On his initiative, a new Baroque church replaced the old parish building on the same site: the foundations were laid in 1730, and construction was completed in 1734, when relics of saints were brought into the church and later placed in one of its altars.

What does the church's architecture look like?

The Baroque structure is distinguished by its unusual circular nave. A rectangular presbytery with an attached sacristy was built onto the east side, while the west side holds an entrance vestibule topped by a pyramid-roofed tower, above which sits a gallery reached by a double staircase. This combination of a round nave with rectangular extensions on either end is an uncommon solution among Baroque churches built in the Prague area during this era.

What is worth seeing inside?

For such a small, suburban church, the interior is remarkably monumental. Wall and ceiling paintings, composed to follow the round shape of the space, cover much of the surface. The liturgical furnishings include five altars and a pulpit, and the gallery above the entrance still holds a historic organ case. Together these elements form a stylistically coherent decorative scheme that is unusual to find intact in a church of this size.

Where exactly is the church located?

The church stands in the historic core of Kunratice, a district in southern Prague, surrounded by the built-up area of what was once an independent village later absorbed into the city. Its proximity to the former Kunratice chateau, rebuilt by the same patron, underlines the church's connection to the history of the local noble estate.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the Kunratice church dedicated to? Saint James the Greater, the apostle, from whom the church takes its name (Kostel svatého Jakuba Většího in Czech).

When was the current Baroque church built? Construction began in 1730 and was completed in 1734, when relics of saints were transferred into the building.

What stood on this site before the Baroque church? An early-Gothic parish church, whose existence is confirmed by the first written mention of the Kunratice parish in 1352.

Who funded the construction of the Baroque church? Jan Arnošt Václav, Baron Goltz, owner of the Kunratice estate from 1721, who also had the nearby chateau rebuilt.

What shape is the church's nave? Circular — an unusual architectural choice compared with the more typical rectangular or cross-shaped plans of Baroque churches in the region.