Kapnikarea

This guide to Kapnikarea in Athens goes back to 1834, when King Otto's German architect drew a straight new avenue, Ermou, running clean through the city, with one small stubborn Byzantine church standing directly in its path and a wrecking order already signed. You'll hear how the church's true age, built roughly nine centuries earlier and possibly over the ruins of an ancient temple, became the argument that decided its fate. The guide also traces the origin of its unusual name, likely tied to a Byzantine tax collector who counted household chimneys.