The Church of St. Jacob is quite possibly the oldest church in Vodnjan, built sometime between the 11th and 13th centuries. It is a single nave building that stands out in its simplicity with no external ornaments.

Aside from lacking an apse, its interior is rather interesting for its double altar. The left one is adorned with a painting of the Madonna, St. Blaise and St. Nicholas, while the altar on the right carries the painting of the Holy Trinity made by a local artist Venerio Trevisno.

The Church of St. Jacob became a parish church at the start of the 13th century. While it may not be a grand structure in architectural and artistic terms, it has an important place in the history of Istria: in 1393, a peace treaty between Vodnjan and Pula was signed here. Sometime later, the people of Vodnjan passed their town Statute in this church, a document that reasserted their independence from Pula and defined the laws and ways of their own community. The Statute was sanctioned by the Venetian administration in 1492 and was in use until the disintegration of the Venetian Republic in 1815.

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№13 of 14 places in Vodnjan
№2137 of 2178 places in Croatia
№2 of 2 Churches and cathedrals in Vodnjan
№285 of 290 Churches and cathedrals in Croatia