An important Byzantine monument in downtown Athens right in the center of Ermou shopping street. Dedicated to Saint Mary, the church is better known as Kapnikarea, and dates back to 1040. When Ermou Street was opened up in 1834 there were plans to demolish the church until Ludwig of Bavaria, King Otto’s father, intervened. The building also escaped demolition in 1863 thanks to the intervention of the Bishop of Athens. Inside, the pictorial decorations date from 1942 and were created by the faamous icon-painter Fotis Kontoglou and his students.