CHURCH OF ST. JACQUES (KOSTEL SV. JAKUBA)

This proud building is the most beautiful example of Gothic architecture in the city. Its construction, on the site of a 12th century Romanesque church, took place between the 14th and 16th centuries. Its tower, high and slender, has been rising into the city's sky since 1592. Various architectural elements and interior fittings were added. The most remarkable detail is a small statue of Cupid above the south window of the main tower. The interior, dominated by the superb late Gothic vaults, is surprisingly bright. One of the highlights is a stone pulpit dating from 1525. The main altar, neo-Gothic, is much more recent (1891). In the gallery are numerous tombstones richly sculpted in Renaissance or Baroque style. One of the local heroes, far from being Czech, rests here. It is the French Protestant Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches, who in 1645, during the Thirty Years' War, successfully organized the defense of the city against an imposing Swedish army. Serving the Holy Roman Empire, he remained at the head of the Moravian command before leaving for Hungary to fight the Ottomans in the 1660's. He died in a small Moravian village in 1682 and was buried in the Church of St. James in Brno, where one need only admire the decorative carvings of his grave to get an idea of the respect with which he was regarded. He became one of the most important historical figures in the city.