Persepolis

Ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, with grand stairways, columns and fine reliefs.

The complex had grand stairways, five palaces or halls with tall columns, and carved reliefs of people bringing gifts to the king. Its name comes from Greek and means "the Persian city"; to the ancient Persians it was Pārsa. UNESCO has listed it as a World Heritage Site since 1979.

Building Persepolis

Darius I created Persepolis as the splendid seat of government and the centre for receptions and festivals. He ordered the Apadana, the Council Hall and the main Treasury, which his son Xerxes I finished. Later kings kept adding buildings until the empire fell.

Grey limestone was the main building material. The workers were paid with silver and food, and clay tablets list craftsmen from many lands, such as Cappadocia and Lydia.

A place for ceremonies

Persepolis was not one of the biggest cities in the empire. Instead it seems to have been a grand site used for ceremonies, and it was probably occupied only part of the year. Many scholars think it was mainly used for celebrating Nowruz, the Persian New Year at the spring equinox, which is still celebrated in Iran.

The reliefs on the stairways show nobles and people from across the empire bringing gifts.

Fire and rediscovery

In 330 BC the army of Alexander the Great captured Persepolis, and soon after its palaces burned. One account says Alexander set the fire on purpose to take revenge for the Persians' destruction of Athens; another blames a feast and a courtesan.

When explorers studied the site from the early 1600s, the inscriptions in three languages, Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian, helped scholars finally read cuneiform writing in the early 19th century.

On the globe

The model shows the stone platform with tall columns and a grand stairway. Look for the rows of columns.