Church of Saints Simon and Jude

The Church of Saints Simon and Jude stands on a low hill right in the centre of Strážek, a small town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. Modest in scale but unmistakable on the skyline, it has served the local parish for four centuries and remains one of the town's defining landmarks.

Where does the church stand, and what does it look like?

The building occupies raised ground above Strážek's main square, making its silhouette visible from nearly every part of town. It is a single-nave structure built in the Renaissance style, with a polygonal presbytery closing the east end. A square tower topped with a tall spire rises at the west front, and it's this tower — visible well beyond the town itself — that travellers passing through the region tend to notice first.

How far back does its history go?

The church visitors see today dates to 1616, but the site's religious history reaches much further back. The earliest documented mention of a church in Strážek comes from 1239, when it was reportedly granted by the Brno castellan Přibyslav of Křižanov and his wife to the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in Brno. The present Renaissance building was erected in 1616 by Vilém Muňka of Ivančice, a member of the noble family that held the surrounding estate at the time.

Why did the church change denomination?

The building wasn't Catholic from the start. When it was completed in 1616, it belonged to the Protestant community and was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Only in 1633, amid the upheaval of the Thirty Years' War and the recatholicisation of the Bohemian lands, did the church pass to the Catholic Church and take on its current dedication to Saints Simon and Jude.

What's worth seeing inside?

Inside, the single nave is covered by a barrel vault with lunettes, a vaulting technique typical of the transition between Renaissance and Baroque building practice. Late-Renaissance stucco work and fresco paintings decorate the walls and ceiling, giving the compact interior more visual weight than its modest footprint would suggest. Together with the building's overall form, this decorative scheme is what earns the church its heritage status.

What protected status does the church hold?

The Church of Saints Simon and Jude, along with an adjacent statue of Saint John of Nepomuk, is listed as a cultural monument of the Czech Republic. That designation places the building under heritage protection and reflects how well its seventeenth-century form and decoration have survived to the present day.

Frequently asked questions

Can visitors go inside the church? As an active subsidiary church of the Strážek parish, the building is primarily used for services, so public access for sightseeing is often limited to Mass times or pre-arranged visits.

How old is the current building? The standing Renaissance church dates to 1616, though records of a church on this site go back to the 13th century.

Was the church always Catholic? No — it began as a Protestant church dedicated to the Holy Trinity and only became Catholic, under its present dedication, in 1633.

Is there anything else to see nearby? A statue of Saint John of Nepomuk stands next to the church and shares its status as a protected cultural monument.