Persepolis was one of the ancient capitals of Persia. The richest city under the sun, Persepolis, presents what may be the most awesome ruins of the ancient world. A world of ancient mystery is located in Iran near Shiraz city in Fars Province. Persepolis, the cradle of civilization with no doubt, is the main attraction of Persia. The historic Persepolis or locally refer to Takht-e-Jamshid (means throne of Jamshid, which assumed to be the first probably mythical king of Iran) represents the greatest successes of the ancient Achaemenid Empire. The ruins you see today are a mere shadow of its former glory.
According to the Achaemenid documents of Persepolis which explained about the frontier borders of the empire, showed how great and extensive was the empire. This vast empire extended from India to the Nile, Lebanon to Danube River, so it wouldn't surprise you to know that Tiles were brought from Babylon, Cedrus wood from Lebanon and Lydians and Greeks worked together with Persians to raise hundreds of columns to the sky.
Pasargadae, the first capital of the dynasty founded by Cyrus the Great, served as a place of investiture for Achaemenid kings, and as a center of some of their religious rites. Persepolis was added to these glorious cities as a place for official audiences and special ceremonies associated with the greatest national, royal, and religious festival of the Iranian Norouz.
The magnificent ruins of Persepolis lie at the foot of Kuh-i-Rahmat 60 km northeast of Shiraz, founded by the Great Darius I at 518 BC when he took power and the process continued over a period of 150 years and was the capital of Achaemenid Empire.
The ensemble of its majestic approaches, monumental stairways, throne rooms, reception rooms, and annexe buildings is categorized among the world’s greatest archaeological sites and UNESCO Organization declared the ruins of Persepolis as a World Heritage Site in 1979.
The most prevalent part of complex is the Apadana staircase. Rows of Persian nobles in formal clothing with headdresses that distinguish them from the Medes in round caps are carved into the walls known as Iranian dignitaries who would attend in royal palaces, an immortal army whose name was due to the fact that its number never decreased followed them. In case any soldier died, another would quickly replace him. And then come to the other side of staircase which can find it in a magnificent ambience, beholding dignitaries and representatives of the other countries who governed by Achaemenid from all across the Empire to pay their respect to the king by gifts. They have brought from home; these bas reliefs were carving incredibly on stones with details.
A man from Utopia with elephant tusk, Babylonians with ornamented fabrics, Ancient Egyptian with their embroidered cloths, Assyrians with 2 rams, the Zranka including a lancer with a shield and a long-horned bull, etc. can be seen in this brilliant ensemble.
There are a number of palaces in this surviving architectural wonder of the world allocated to its kings such as The All Nation Gate, mirror palace, and private palaces including Tachara which is the most striking with skilled reliefs which are some of the most photogenic, Hadish which was completed by Xerxes, and a central palace. The last palace worth visiting is one hundred column palaces. Also, 2 tombs belonging to 2 Achaemenid kings are located on the rock of the Rahmat Mountain.
In January 330, Alexander the Great reached Persepolis, the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Actually Alexander of Macedonia invaded Persia and destroyed Iranian utopia "Persepolis".
It is counted by the famous Greek historians such as Herodotus and Diodorus that Alexander held games in honour of his victories. He performed costly sacrifices to the gods and entertained his friends bountifully. While they were feasting and the drinking was far advanced, as they began to be drunken, a madness took possession of the minds of the intoxicated guests. As well as today, we know he destroyed several buildings of the palace because he was not yet sole ruler of the Persian Empire and it was too dangerous to leave the enormous treasures behind, where his enemies could recapture them. They decided to set fire the palaces, indeed they claimed about the story that king of kings, king of Persia, son of Darius the Great, Xerxes invaded Athens and setting fire the Acropolis, one of the ancient citadel that is famous of being Parthenon.
The Palace of Xerxes seems to have received special treatment because it was damaged more severely than other buildings. It has been argued that the Greek soldiers in Alexander's company had their revenge for the destruction of Athens in 480 BCE. When Alexander returned several years later and saw the ruins, he regretted his act.
Finally, time and sand lay Persepolis hidden for centuries and its the secret of its existence today. The ruins were not excavated until the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago sponsored an archaeological expedition to Persepolis and its environs under supervision of Ernst Herzfeld from 1931to 1934 and Erich F. Schmidt from 1934 to 1939.
The last world: Persepolis is renowned as the gem of Achaemenid; in fact, that its splendour continues to act as a model for present-day architecture, as seen in Kish Island’s Darius Hotel and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran.
the best time to visit:
The climate of Shiraz is fundamentally warm. We suggest that you travel to Shiraz in April and May to enjoy both the pleasant weather of spring and the historical monuments. Naqsh-e Rustam is open every day from 8 am to 7 pm, but it has a different time for official holidays.
Getting there:
From Shiraz to Persepolis, it is about an hour by car. You have to take yourself to the Shiraz-Persepolis road. Then after a long journey to the Marvdasht-Sadaat Shahr highway, get this road around and go to Marv Dasht-Sarooie Road; after a short time, you will be in the Persepolis. Or you can contact with an Iranian Travel agency to organize a Shiraz tour accompanied with a tour guide or transfer to this place. Persepolis tour is one of the most impressive aspect of each Iran tours. Iran Welcomes You is a tour operator based on Shiraz & specializes in Shiraz tours with its experts in Iran tourism. Book your Shiraz tour with travel experts to explore this magnificent ensemble.