Parish Church of St. Jacob

Villach’s primary Roman Catholic parish church is dedicated to St. James.The wide late-Gothic hall church with a west tower commands a commanding location at the end of Villach’s main plaza.

Following the earthquake of 1348, the Romanesque tower substructure was erected in ashlar masonry with corner pilaster strips and an arched frieze.The upper level was damaged in the 1690 earthquake and rebuilt in 1759.The original church tower cupola was destroyed by fire in 1784 and was rebuilt with an octagonal addition with a pointed helmet in Gothic forms in 1845-1847.It is the tallest church tower in Carinthia, standing at 93.87 meters.On the east side, a coved late Gothic doorway leads to the tower’s 239 steps.The tower chamber with the well-preserved kitchen was used by a tower keeper until after WWII.Visitors can now reach the tower’s 46.84 meter [1] high viewing platform during the summer season. The traffic light system, which governs the relatively limited inspection of the snail staircase above the bell room every four minutes, is a unique feature.

The tower was initially free-standing in the manner of an Italian campanile, but it was joined to the nave by a transverse, three-bay vestibule as early as the 17th century.A crucifix from the first half of the 17th century may be found to the north of the tower.

Karl Maria Kerndle built a war memorial on the south side of the tower in the shape of a colossal sword point with oak leaves in relief, an eagle, the city coat of arms, and a sword in front of a gable wall between 1918-24.

The nave’s simple western façade, with its capped gable, features round niches and pointed arched windows with tracery on the sides.On each side of the northern window is a female console head and a miniature stone image of Saint Henry and Saint Kunigunde.These are reproductions of the original figures shown in the Khevenhüller chapel.The late-Gothic west gateway features a baroque wooden door inscribed with the year 1717. A statue of St. James stands in a niche to the right of the entryway.

The nave’s side walls are supported by powerfully projecting, triple-stepped buttresses and a continuous window cornice.The Villach city coat of arms is in the stone frame of the north doorway, which has a triple stepped keel arch and the building inscription 1547 on the side.Josef Kassin carved a stone sculpture of St. Barbara to the right of the gateway in 1906.The south gateway, which was given by OssiacherAbbot Andreas Hasenberger, is structured identically to the north portal.The coat of arms of Villach is connected to the stone frame, the coat of arms of the abbey of Ossiach is attached to the wooden door attachment, and the coat of arms of the Hasenbergers is attached to the stone frame.The pear’s base includes figural consoles, a female figure, most likely Eva, and a little head.

The choir, with a 5/8 end, is supported by two stepped buttresses with animal images on top.The chancel’s walls are pierced with steep lancet windows.The reveal of the eastern chancel window contains round services with a capital and canopy.The Leininger chapel on the northern side choir features crossed struts.In the southern choir corner, a nearly square sacristy and a stair tower are erected.The Khevenhüller and Dietrichstein chapels are located on the nave’s southern wall.

Ten round pillars support the vault of the three-nave, six-bay hall church.The three-axis organ gallery blocks the western pair of columns.The elaborate sling and net rib vault is supported by little consoles and has a stonemason’s mark in the base.The eastern bay is three steps higher, and the three-bay chancel is four steps higher.Rich tracery adorns the six three-part choir windows.The ornate stucco embellishments and frescoed medallions adorn the baroque ribbed vault.Each of the three broadly spread trefoil shapes in the center depicts a Trinity metaphor.Paintings of angels from the end of the 17th century may be found in the gussets.The vault is supported by three-step wall services with rods and figurative consoles.On the south wall, Adam and Eve are represented, and next to them is a mask with exquisite leaf embellishments.The larger-than-life fresco of St. Christopher on the south wall of the choir is credited to Thomas von Villach and originates from the middle or third quarter of the 15th century.

A small Gothic sacrament house may be seen on the southern choir wall.It is next to the spiral staircase, which is dated 1507 on the lintel. Above the door is a steep gable relief from the Hämel family’s previous chapel.The end-of-the-14th-century relief depicts the family crest with the Adoration and a protective robe Madonna.A Gothic iron door with fittings and a key ring opens into the single-bay sacristy, which features a basic ribbed vault with a keystone disc.