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  Church of St. James |
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Located in a corner of the New City Market Square and towering over the New City, St. James’s Church is the New City’s gem. Erected in the first half of the fourteenth century, it is considered as one of the most valuable and interesting architectural achievements. It is a basilica-plan church (with the aisles lower than the nave), differing from other Toruń’s Gothic churches also in that it uses a structure rarely employed in Poland: a free-standing aisle buttress attached to the nave by a flying buttress which transmits the thrust of the vault to the buttress. Now that the vaults of the aisles were raised in the fifteenth century, only one flying buttress can be seen: that over the roof of sacristy. The unique character of the church is also determined by a myriad of decorations, detail styles and multicolour glazed brick. In the New Market Square, the church can be entered through the Gothic gate with a pillar and the Baroque figure of St. James, the patron.
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Location: Toruń, New City Market Square (Old Quarter: New City; >>)
Interiors sightseeing: the church is in religious use thus the visit is possible outside the mass hours only. Usually it's open for visitors in the high season (June-August) from Tue till Sat from 11am till 3pm and from 3pm till 5pm on Sundays and holidays.
No admission fee
Booking guides, further details:
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 St. James's Church |  St. James's Church in the panorama of the town |  Entrance to the Church area |  Presbytery of the Church |
 Detailed info: |
A distinctive feature of the church which strikes one on entering is its basilica layout and smaller size in comparison to other Gothic churches in Toruń.
The most valuable elements of the interior include the polychromes on the pillars and arcades beneath the tower, dating from the second half of the fourteenth century. In the first aisle from the entrance, on the Baroque altar, we can see a Gothic Cross of Black Christ Crucified dating from the first half of the fifteenth century, whereas in the first chapel from the presbytery there is a perfect late Gothic figure of Madonna and Child, dating back to the end of the fifteenth century. On the east front wall of the aisle, there is a Gothic painting from the second half of the fourteenth century, depicting scenes from the legends of Mary Magdalene. Against the painting, there is a large late fourteenth-century Gothic cross, the so-called Tree of Life, formerly housed in St. Nicholas Church.
In the presbytery, one can see, for example, a top-grade stellar vault, a grand high altar in late Baroque style dating from 1731 and a large wood painting dating from the second half of the fifteenth century on the left. The painting features twenty two connected scenes of the Passion of Christ (>>) against the medieval architecture and landscape.
In the nave, there is an exquisitely carved Mannerist organ dating back to 1611, nearly as grand as the one in St. Mary’s Church in Toruń.
By the first pillar from the presbytery, there is a late fourteenth-century another Gothic figure of Madonna and Child. The figure is the most outstanding work by Toruń’s workshop producing standing Madonnas.
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Gothic polychrome murals featuring the Annunciation and Coronation, 1350-1360
Gothic Cross of Black Christ Crucified, dated 1st half of the 15th century |
 Gothic Cross Tree of Life, dated late 14th century |  Gothic polychrome murals featuring scenes from the legend of St. Mary Magdalene, 1380-1390 |  Mannerist organ of 1611. Beside that of St. Mary's Church, the organ is among the oldest and most precious such instruments in Poland |  Gothic polychrome mural of St. Mary Apocaliptic, St. Dorothy and St. Sebastian, late 15th century |  Gothic murals in the Church |  Fragment of the Gothic mural "The Last Judgement" featuring Christ the righteous judge |  Fragment of the Baroque high altar |  Gothic figure of Madonna and Child |
St. James's Church: The Passion of Christ, 1480
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| A large 274 x 221 cm (9 x 7.3 feet) painting presenting 22 scenes of the Passion of Christ against landscape and late Gothic architecture imitating that of Jerusalem can be found in the presbytery of St. James’s Church. It is a precious and fascinating example of Gothic panel painting, made after 1480 in Toruń workshop. Formerly it belonged to Toruń St. Nicholas Church, dismantled in the 19th century. All the scenes – an evangelical lecture of a moralizing character – are characteristic of Dominican teachings. The sacral scenes are accompanied here by the genre scenes which show, for example, a shepherd with oxen, hunting, women with baskets, and a figure of a person in a boat. At the bottom and in the middle of the painting, there is a kneeling figure of its founder, presented against a background of a wall. It has been partly influenced by the Netherlandic art, while its creator in all probability referred to Hans Memling’s Passion of 1480 in Turin. |
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Click the picture to enlarge |
| Users' comments (2) | me, 2010-10-31 17:53:02 (83.21.77.191)
Of course it can be. The church is still in religious use.
| zwitchel, 2010-09-25 18:57:09 (90.217.117.139)
can a wedding be held here?
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Curent local weather in Toruń  | temp. 7.3° C |
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