Zápy - Church of St. James the Greater

The first mention of the church of St. James in Zápy dates back to 1329. From 1384 it is mentioned as a parish church.

The original church in Zápy was made of brick, whitewashed inside and had a high stone tower. The presbytery was vaulted, the nave had a paneled ceiling, and there were three altars.

The church was surrounded by a cemetery, on the southern side of which a stone belfry was built later, perhaps in the 16th century, which is still preserved today.

In 1750 the church was rebuilt to the foundations, probably according to the original design by Kilian Ignaz Dientzenhofer. The mortuary in the northeast corner of the cemetery is of the same origin.

The area of the Church of St. James the Greater is situated on an elevation above the confluence of the Ostrovský and Zelenečský brooks in the eastern part of Zápy.

The nave of the church is made of brick, 30 metres long and 19 metres wide, with a rectangular presbytery, a square sacristy and a rectangular vestibule. The church has a crypt in the front part of the nave.

The church is surrounded by a Baroque enclosure wall with a cemetery gate and a stone staircase to the north of the church. In the south-western part of the enclosure wall, near the bell tower, a simple side gate has been broken through. The church has a stone belfry, probably of 16th century date, which now contains two bells; originally the belfry carried three bells. The large bell of the Virgin Mary bears a relief of Palladio of Stary Boleslav and probably dates from the late 18th century. The smaller, older, perhaps from the 14th century, bell of the Evangelists is the so-called dying bell.

In the northeast corner of the cemetery there is a mortuary. It was probably built at the same time as the church to a design by the same architect. Below the mortuary is the ossuary, where remains from cancelled graves and skeletal finds from the surrounding fields, including graves from the Thirty Years' War, were deposited.

Above the main entrance, which is not used now, there is a statue of St. James bearing the year 1770. The main altar is decorated with a painting of the Centenary of St James by Philipp Leutner from 1769. The left side altar is dedicated to the Guardian Angel. The right side altar is dedicated to John of Nepomuk. Next to the entrance there used to be a rare epitaph painted on wood by Mikuláš Bryknar of Brukštejn from 1590. It is now on loan and on display at Brandýs Chateau and has been replaced by a smaller photograph in the church.

To the left of the main altar is a Baroque pulpit with reliefs depicting scenes from the life of St. James the Elder, and to the far right is the journey of the saint's relics from Palestine to Santiago de Compostela. The wooden church pews are inlaid. The church choir carries a working organ.

Landstein tombstones with a coat of arms with a five-leaved rose in the vestibule of the side entrance to the church have been preserved from the original church.

Today the church serves the needs of the Roman Catholic parish of Brandýs nad Labem.

After 1989, the most necessary repairs were made to the church, the windows and roof were repaired. However, the church would need a complete reconstruction.