Chalkotheke

Storage building for metal votive offerings on the Athenian Acropolis, 4th century BC.

The Chalkotheke was a storage building on the Athenian Acropolis used to house votive offerings made of bronze and other metals. Its name derives from the Greek word for copper (chalkos). What was stored there is known only through 4th-century BC inscriptions, including a council decree ordering a full inventory of all objects and the erection of an inscribed stele in front of the building. Today only foundation traces remain. The structure illustrates how carefully the Athenians managed their sacred objects.