A Gothic brick church from the 15th century in the centre of Simoradz, with Renaissance vault polychromy and Gothic paintings of the apostles in the chancel.
The Church of St James stands in the centre of Simoradz in Dębowiec municipality. It is a brick, oriented Gothic church from about the 15th century, single-nave, with a Neo-Gothic tower. It was entered in the heritage register in 1978.
The first church, probably from the 13th century, was of brick and had a separate bell tower. During the Reformation the church was taken over by the Lutherans, who renovated it in 1611. In 1654, during the Counter-Reformation, it was taken away and closed by the Austrian authorities. The church was attached to the parish in Dębowiec, and later to the parish in Skoczów. In 1842 it was extended. An independent parish was established on 27 December 1966, and after 1989 a thorough renovation was carried out.
The greatest value lies in the paintings. On the vault Renaissance polychromy survives, showing the four Evangelists and the Virgin and Child, as well as plant and geometric motifs and a scene of the Crucifixion. During the renovation, Gothic paintings of the apostles from the 15th century were discovered in the chancel, conserved over two years, along with consecration crosses. In the rear wall of the chancel there is a sacrament niche with an ornamental grille, and in the walls are set 17th-century epitaphs with Moravian inscriptions of the Skoczowski family.
There are three Baroque altars. In the high altar hangs a painting of St James the Elder, and in the right side altar a signed painting by Kacper Ociepka from 1764 showing the conversion of St Paul. There is also a Rococo pulpit with a relief of a dove. The Baroque organ was bought in 1874 from the parish in Pruchna.
About 2 km away lies Skoczów with the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, and about 2.3 km from Simoradz the Skarpa Wiślicka nature reserve.
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