Persepolis

Persepolis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Shiraz, is the magnificent ceremonial capital of the ancient Achaemenid Persian Empire, founded by Darius the Great around 518 BCE. Though burned by Alexander the Great, its ruins remain awe-inspiring, spread across a vast stone terrace, with soaring fluted columns, the grand Gate of All Nations, and, most remarkably, superbly preserved bas-reliefs carving long processions of delegates from the empire's twenty-three subject nations bringing tribute, a vivid window into a lost civilisation.

History

There are signs that the site was already a seat of government under Cyrus the Great and Cambyses II, but it was Darius I who created Persepolis as the ceremonial seat of the empire: the earliest remains date to 515 BC, and inscriptions show that he built the terrace and the first palaces, ordering the Apadana, the Council Hall and the Treasury, which were finished under his son Xerxes I. Building continued under Artaxerxes I and into the 4th century BC, by workers who, as the Elamite tablets found on the site record, were paid in silver and food and came from across the empire. After defeating Darius III at Gaugamela in 331 BC, Alexander the Great forced the Persian Gates and took Persepolis in the winter of 331-330 BC, and soon after its palaces went up in flames, by one account set alight on purpose in revenge for the Persian sack of Athens. It has been a World Heritage Site since 1979 (Wikipedia, Persepolis).

Highlights

• The Apadana staircase - the reliefs of the tribute-bearing nations.
• The Gate of All Nations - the monumental entrance with winged bulls.
• The columns - the soaring remnants of the great halls.
• Naqsh-e Rostam - the rock-cut royal tombs nearby.

When to go

Spring, March to May, and autumn, September to November, for the most pleasant temperatures, as summers on the plain are fiercely hot; early morning or late afternoon light is best for the reliefs and cooler for walking the exposed site.

Things to know

It is a ruin on an exposed, shadeless terrace that gets extremely hot in summer, and a guide greatly enriches the reliefs' meaning; independent travel in Iran also involves practical planning around visas, dress codes and payment, as international cards do not work. The scale, artistry and history of Persepolis, though, are extraordinary, one of the great archaeological sites of the ancient world.

Nearby

The royal tombs of Naqsh-e Rostam and the city of Shiraz are close by.

Key facts