Of many legends related to the church the most famous is the legend of a thief whose severed hand of sin is still hanging on a chain in the church.
The origin of St. James' large organ dates to the very beginning of the 18th century. After a major fire in 1689, a new organ was built by Abraham Stark of Loket, who had by then already produced several organs for various localities in Bohemia. The new two-manual organ was completed in 1705. The organ´s case, which is still admired today, was also unique for its time.
In 1941, the organ was enlargened and the Romantic disposition was added to original Baroque one. The latest reconstruction was completed in 1982 by „Varhany Krnov“ (Rieger-Kloss). All of Stark’s original voices, mostly including original pipes, were preserved, as well as many interesting Romantic tone-colours. At present the organ has four manuals, 91 speaking stops and 8,277 pipes.
The monastery of St James is one of the stops on the Way of St James to Santiago de Compostela. In 1974, Pope Paul VI awarded the church of St. James the honourable title of Basilica Minor.
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