St. James's Church, Kastelaz

St. James's Church (St. Jakob in Kastelaz) is a church on the Kastelaz hill in Tramin an der Weinstraße, South Tyrol (Italy), which is known foremost for its Romanesque frescos.

The church is sometimes mistakenly called St. Jacob's. The confusion arises because German, like many other languages, uses the same word for both James and Jacob.

History
The church was built at the beginning of the 13th century. Before the church was built there was an ancient Roman place of worship dedicated to the goddess Isis on the spot. The first church consisted of a rectangular nave and an apse. A Gothic southern aisle was added in 1440 and only in 1500 was the sacristy on the northern side of the church added.

Frescos
St. James's Church contains one of the oldest set of frescos in the German sprachraum.

Romanesque
The socle of the apse contains frescos depicting beasts and threatening imaginary animals. Above this, the twelve apostles are depicting in pairs. The ceiling of the apse has a fresco showing Christ in Majesty. The socle of the chancel arch contains to the left and right depictions of Atlas, and higher up a bird-woman and a capricorn. In the spandrel, Cain and Abel are portrayed.

Gothic
The church is also richly decorated with Gothic frescos, made by Ambrosius Gander.