Churches in Athens


Panagia Kapnikarea
(Kapnikarea – Saint Mary)

One of the most important Byzantine monuments in Athens is in the middle of Ermou Street. The church is dedicated to Saint Mary but it is better known as Kapnikarea. It is a complex tetrastyle cross-in-square church that dates back to 1050.

The higher parts of the masonry follow the cloisonné style while the lower parts consist of large courses (continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material, such as stone or brick) arranged so that they form crosses. The elements that lead experts to date the church to 1050 are the kufic brick patterns, the limited use of dentils and the particular arrangement of the windows.

With its light proportions, the dome is typically Athenian. The color variations with the use of kufic brick patterns is less visible here than in earlier monuments. Instead the emphasis is placed on the sculptural values of the stones.

Soon after the church’s foundations, a chapel dedicated to Saint Barbara was added on its northern side. The outer narthex was added on the western side of the church and chapel during that time as well. Initially it was an open portico. The small columned porch on the narthex’s southern entrance was built in the 12th century.

When Ermou Street was opened up in 1834 the church, that by then had been damaged and deserted during the Greek War of Independence, came close to being demolished. Ludwig of Bavaria, King Otto’s father intervened and the church was rescued. The building also escaped demolition in 1863 with the intervention of the Bishop of Athens.

The church’s interior marble screen was crafted later and it is a copy of the screen that is in the Monastery of Kaissariani. The pictorial decorations date from 1942 and were created by the famous icon-painter Fotis Kontoglou and his students. The mosaic over the entrance was made by Elli Voïla in 1936. The church of Kapnikarea now belongs to the University of Athens.

The name Kapnikarea There are various theories regarding the origin of the name Kapnikarea. Most probably the name relates to the “Kapnikon”, a certain tax imposed during the Byzantine era. According to this explanation, the church was sponsored by an executive who might have been in charge of collecting this tax or simply carried the family name Kapnikares. In older documents we encounter variations of the name, most frequently the name “Kamoucharea”, originating from the word “kamoucha” (luxurious textile). These other theories however regarding the church’s name are no longer accepted. The church also used to be called “the Princess’s church” based on a tradition that is connected to most important churches in Athens with Athenian empresses of Byzantium. During the 19th century the church was also known as “Panagia of Prentzas (Saint Mary of Prentzas) probably because of its association with a sponsor or donor of an important icon that might have been kept in the chapel though none of this has been proven. Even today, Athenians may say that an old, ugly woman “looks like Kapnikarea”, probably in reference to the poor state the church was in at the beginning of the 19th century.

In 1841, after the foundation of the Greek State, the church was used as the National Library, housing the first collection of books donated to the Orphanage of Aegina. The church underwent repairs in 1863 and was later also rededicated to Saint Eleftherios.

The church is built as a cross-in-square with a thee-part narthex whose middle part is vaulted and taller than the other two. The dome is the most characteristic and best preserved example of the Athenian type and is therefore particularly important.

The church is built largely of marble. Bricks or stones have hardly been used apart from the dome. The lower part consists of undecorated marble blocks, whereas in the higher part there are ninety ancient Greek, Roman, early Christian and Byzantine walled-in reliefs. A number of these were used in a way similar to their original function while plaques with engraved scenes formed a frieze around all sides of the church.

The variety of walled-in reliefs is particularly interesting. Among them are plaques from the 9th and 10th century using designs of oriental origin (animals, plants, representations of the tree of life etc.) or stemming from folk traditions. There are also sculptures with trophies of the Panathenaic Games representing athletic games and roman triumphs as well as other of Byzantine origin with oriental sphinxes, geometric shapes, animals and plants.

A 4th century BC cornice has also survived representing celebrations from the Attic calendar, including a scene showing Herakles with Hebe. Interesting is that the artisans attempted to Christianize these ancient sculptures by adding the symbol of the cross between different scenes.

Ermou Street
Monastiraki - Syntagma
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