St. James's Parish Church () is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, the capital of

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. It is dedicated to

St. James the Greater James the Great (Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles to ...

. Its name is often incorrectly translated as ''St. Jacob's'' because Slovene, like many other languages, uses the same word for both ''James'' and ''Jacob''. In the late 1920s, the square in front of the church was renovated by the Slovene architect

Jože Plečnik Jože Plečnik () (23 January 1872 – 7 January 1957) was a Slovenian architect who had a major impact on the modern architecture of Vienna, Prague and of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, most notably by designing the iconic Triple Bridge a ...

, and in the early 1950s by the architect

Boris Kobe Boris Kobe (9 October 1905 – 3 May 1981) was a Slovene architect, painter, and designer. Kobe was born in Ljubljana in 1905. He studied art at the Department of Architecture at what was then the University of Ljubljana Technical Faculty unde ...

. Opposite St. James's Church is

Gruber Mansion Gruber Mansion () is a mansion in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, standing at 1 Astronomy Street () on the right bank of the Ljubljanica, east of Levstik Square () and Castle Hill (Ljubljana), Castle Hill. It currently houses the Archives of ...

, which houses the Slovenian National Archives.

History

The church was built in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

between 1613 and 1615 on the site of an older

Gothic style Gothic architecture is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It evolved from Romanesque ar ...

church, erected in the early 15th century by the

Augustinian Order Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13th ...

. In 1598, the old church was acquired by the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

and thus became the first Jesuit church in the

Slovene Lands The Slovene lands or Slovenian lands ( or in short ) is the historical denomination for the territories in Central and Southern Europe where people primarily spoke Slovene. The Slovene lands were part of the Illyrian provinces, the Austrian Empi ...

and one of the first in the

Inner Austria Inner Austria (; ; ) was a term used from the late 14th to the early 17th century for the Habsburg hereditary lands south of the Semmering Pass, referring to the Imperial duchies of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola and the lands of the Austrian Li ...

. The interior was designed by the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

architect Francesco Robba, who designed the main altar, and the Slovene stonemason

Luka Mislej Luka Mislej (16 October 1670 – 5 October 1727) was a Carniolan stonemason and altar-maker. Life Mislej, who was probably born in Vipava, Vipava, Vipava, lived in Ljubljana. In 1722 the Italian sculptor Francesco Robba, who took over his atelie ...

, who designed the entrance portal and the stone side altars. After the Ljubljana earthquake of 1895, the church was renovated by the

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

-based architect

Raimund Jeblinger Raimund is thought to be a variant of the name Raymond. It is closely related to . Raimund may refer to: People Given name * Raimund Abraham (1933–2010), Austrian architect * Raimund Bethge (born 1947), East German bobsledder * Raimund Herincx ...

and the interiors were redesigned by

Janez Šubic Janez may refer to: People: * Janez (given name), a Slovene given name * Janež, a Slovene surname In music: * Janez Detd., a Belgian rock band May also refer to a semi-pejorative term used in the Croatian North and beyond for Slovenes The ...

. Nevertheless, much of the original Baroque style has remained intact.

St. Mary's Column

On the side of the church there is a column erected in 1682 to commemorate the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

victory against the

Ottoman Turks The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the e ...

in the Battle of Saint Gotthard. The originally marble column, dedicated to the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, was designed by

Johann Weikhard von Valvasor Johann Weikhard Freiherr von Valvasor or Johann Weichard Freiherr von Valvasor (, ) or simply Valvasor (baptised on 28 May 1641 – September or October 1693) was a natural historian and polymath from Carniola, present-day Slovenia, and a Li ...

, featuring the

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

statue of the Virgin cast by the town bell-maker Christoph Schlag upon the model of the

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

-based artist Wolf Weisskirchner, and the stone statues of

Saint Joseph According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus. Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...

, Saint Leopold,

Saint Ignatius of Loyola Ignatius of Loyola ( ; ; ; ; born Íñigo López de Oñaz y Loyola; – 31 July 1556), venerated as Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basques, Basque Spaniard Priesthood in the Catholic Church, Catholic priest and theologian, who, with six compa ...

, and

Saint Francis Xavier Francis Xavier, SJ (born Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta; ; ; ; ; ; 7 April 15063 December 1552), venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Navarrese cleric and missionary. He co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative o ...

. The used thin-wall brass sculpture casting technique, invented by Valvasor, was published in the ''

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' is a scientific journal published by the Royal Society. In its earliest days, it was a private venture of the Royal Society's secretary. It was established in 1665, making it the second journ ...

'' (London, 1687), and is considered the first internationally recognised Carniolan invention. The stone statues were in 1870 replaced with

spelter Spelter is a zinc–lead alloy that Patina, ages to resemble bronze, but is Hardness, softer and has a lower melting point. The name can also refer to a copper–zinc alloy (a brass) used for brazing, or to pure zinc. Etymology In his etymolo ...

statues, and marble (except for the top part with the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

) replaced with

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. In 1938, the monument was redesigned upon plans by the architect

, with a new pedestal and limestone column, whereas the marble part, the four pewter statues, and the statue of the Virgin were retained.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James's Church, Ljubljana Roman Catholic churches in Ljubljana Roman Catholic churches completed in 1615 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Slovenia Center District, Ljubljana Baroque architecture in Ljubljana Baroque church buildings in Slovenia 1615 establishments in Europe

History

St. Mary's Column

See also

References

External links