Gothic church of St. James the Apostle

In the town of Želiezovce , there is a Gothic Catholic Church of St. James the Apostle from the first half of the 14th century standing. At that time, it was under the administration of the main administrator of Tekov region and also the castellan of Levice Castle - Imrich Becsei.

The church is a rare monument thanks to its uniquely preserved frescoes, the Roman sarcophagus from the 2nd century, the altar and the relics of St. James, which except for Levoča, you can find only here.

If you are wondering how the Roman sarcophagus got into the Gothic church, believe that this is a very interesting story. The son of Imrich Becsei, Juraj Vesszős-Becsei, hid all his stolen possessions in it in the form of gold. First, he stole this Roman stone sarcophagus from the Buda Roman necropolis of Aquincum. He then removed the remains of the veteran of second auxiliary legion Aaelius Domitius from the sarcophagus and instead of remains he just put in his swag.

The church architecture itself will surely be interesting for sacred monuments enthusiasts. Most likely you will be attracted by the presbytery, where the elegantly vaulted original Gothic cross vault is still preserved and intact.