Church of Panaghia Kapnikarea, Byzantine church in central Athens, Greece

Kapnikarea Church is a small 11th-century Byzantine church on Ermou Street in central Athens, built of rough light-brown masonry below street level and reached by a short flight of steps. It has a cross-in-square plan with a central dome on an octagonal tiled drum pierced by narrow arched windows and crowned with a cross, and a second smaller dome to the right. The west facade has a triple-arched window over the central door, with single arched windows at the sides under pitched tiled roofs.

The structure was built in the 11th century on top of an ancient Greek temple foundation dedicated to either Athena or Demeter. This site held sacred meaning for Athenians for centuries before the church was constructed.

The name Kapnikarea likely comes from the kapnikarios, a Byzantine official who collected a tax based on the number of chimneys, or from kamoucha, a precious fabric made in the area. Another tradition links it to the smoked icon of the Virgin, burned when the Turks set fire to the church in 1689. The church belongs to the University of Athens and is called the "Holy University Church".

The church sits on Ermou Street, the main shopping avenue of central Athens, making it easy to reach on foot. Visitors can enter during daylight hours and should dress respectfully when inside.

The demolition plan of 1834 belonged to Leo von Klenze's new city plan for Athens, drawn up at King Otto's request; it was Otto's father, Ludwig I of Bavaria, who objected and stopped it. The church had earlier been known during Ottoman rule as the church of the Vasilopoula and of Prentzas.