Church (and ossuary) of St. James, Brno, CZ

The Church of St. James is located in Brno on the square of St. James. It was first mentioned at the beginning of the 13th century, but the church is probably much older. It was originally a Romanesque building. In the 14th century it was rebuilt in the Gothic style. In the following centuries, further changes were made, various chapels and extensions were added (and demolished). The church has had its current neo-Gothic appearance since the 19th century.

At the time of my visit, there was some construction around the church, so we will focus more on the interior.

Like many Gothic churches, St. James looks larger on the inside than it does on the outside. The vertical columns reach incredible heights and make the church look even taller. The tall Gothic windows let in a lot of light. The whole place is light, bright, airy and elegant.

The bright interior of the church is beautifully complemented by dark accessories - for example, artistically carved pews or a beautiful organ.

The attribute of St. James is the "shell of St. James". His image can be seen, for example, right at the entrance, by the candles.

Louis Raduit de Souches (among others) is buried in the church. Who was he?

Louis Raduit de Souches was a French soldier who gained his first experience defending his hometown of La Rochelle (known from the novel The Three Musketeers). He later served in the Swedish army and was transferred to the Austrian army after disagreements with his superiors.
The Austrian Emperor Ferdinand III recognized his military talent and in 1645 appointed him commander of the defense of Brno against Swedish troops.
Swedish troops under commander Torstenson were plundering Moravia at that time, and the fall of Brno would have opened the way to Vienna. Against thirty thousand Swedes, de Souches had five hundred soldiers and a thousand militiamen from the citizens of Brno. But miracles do happen, Brno defended itself and Torstenson finally pulled away.

Souches became a marshal and in 1667 he repeated his Brno success by liberating Nitra from the Turks. Nevertheless, Brno did not forget him and he was considered the greatest Brno man of the 17th century.

Louis Raduit de Souches has an impressive tombstone behind the main altar in the church. His remains are kept in the crypt next to the altar.

In the Middle Ages, it was common to have a cemetery around the church. But in cities there was a problem: lots of people and not enough space. So when new graves were dug, human bones were sometimes collected and placed in ossuaries.
In 1784, however, Emperor Joseph II banned burials in cities for health reasons. The cemetery of St. James was closed, the ossuary closed, and completely forgotten for the next two centuries.

The ossuary was rediscovered during an archaeological dig in 2001. And it was something big. In fact, it's the second largest ossuary in Europe, after the catacombs of Paris.

In several chambers, the bones of more than 50,000 people are carefully and systematically stored.