There was interest in the accessible chapel of St. James' Church in Jihlava

Jihlava - Almost 300 people visited the Chapel of the Sorrowful Virgin Mary in St. James the Greater Church in Jihlava over the weekend. City and church officials agreed to open it to the public on weekends. Depending on public interest, additional tour dates may be decided. This octagonal Baroque monument is remarkable for its wall paintings and rich stucco decoration. It houses a rare Gothic Pietà from 1370.
"There was a great interest, with about 170 people coming on Saturday alone," said guide Jan Kodet to ČTK. "There are even residents of Jihlava who have never been here before. However, this is a pilot project. We will see if the interest wanes over time," he added. According to him, the chapel used to serve as a pilgrimage site, but in recent years it has been used sporadically for church purposes. The church itself is accessible only during mass or upon request. It conceals many valuable monuments, and the church cannot afford a permanent guide, he explained.
The construction of the chapel was the last change to the layout of the temple, whose beginnings date back to the 1240s, during the formation of the royal upper town of Jihlava. In 1702, it was built at the expense of the city physicist and great Jihlava patron Jakub Jindřich Kielmann from Kielmannseck. The altar of the chapel is decorated with a Pietà, the restoration of which was completed two years ago at a cost of about half a million crowns. Previously, its interior decoration was repaired for 2.6 million crowns. A total of 24 wall paintings and stucco decorations, including two dozen cherubs, were restored. St. James Church, as well as St. Ignatius Church and the Church of the Holy Spirit along with the Jesuit College, belong to the Premonstratensians.
The chapel will be open on Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM and on Sundays only in the afternoon from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Adult admission is ten crowns, and children pay five crowns. The ticket is also valid for the church tower. Since May, more than 2,500 people have enjoyed the view from it. However, its interior is in quite a desperate state. The 700-year-old monument was last repaired a hundred years ago. It has a dramatic history, which visitors can read about at the gallery. The gallery is very narrow, and visitors walk past the bells. "Sometimes the deafening ringing can scare visitors," one of the guides told ČTK.