The legendary city of Persia

As a devout people, the Persians designed and built many magnificent cities. In the history of the Middle East, their Achaemenid Empire was the first to unify the entire region into a single organized state.

Under the Achaemenid dynasty, Persepolis (ancient Persian city) was the ceremonial capital of the First Persian Empire. Persepolis was located about 70 km northeast of the modern-day city of Shiraz in the Fars province of Iran.

The most magnificent architectural masterpiece in the Persepolis complex is the Apadana Palace, a masterpiece, a symbol of Persian spirit and thought, yet of international architectural and artistic stature. Artists from all over contributed to its creation: Greek-style white stone columns, Roman-influenced temples, Persian-style stone reliefs, blended with Syrian, Turkish, and Egyptian influences. The Apadana Palace was also where Persian kings held meetings and received foreign envoys.

Persepolis was not only a structure serving the royal court of the time, but also an architectural masterpiece, evident in its exquisitely carved stone columns and vividly sculpted walls, showcasing the talent of ancient Persian craftsmen.

Persepolis was also a symbol of the wealth of the Persian Empire because of its grand architecture, luxurious buildings adorned with gold and silver, and exquisite sculptures.

In 320 BC, Alexander the Great, after conquering Greece, marched from Macedonia to Persia. He arrived at Persepolis and allowed his troops to rest for two months. The city, once the site of the Noruz spring festival and the reception of foreign envoys, now served as a resting place for his notorious soldiers. Wine flowed like a river during those two months. Then, one day, Alexander the Great seemed to remember the events of a century and a half earlier, when the Persian emperor Xerxes invaded Greece and burned Athens. Wine spilled and the fire blazed. It is believed that Alexander the Great deliberately set fire to Persepolis to avenge Athens.

Excavations of the site in the 1930s revealed that fire had consumed the stone pillars of the Apadana Palace, burning 100 marble pillars of the Hundred Pillars Palace, melting the iron and lead rafters. The palace's dome collapsed as a result.

Before Persepolis was burned, Alexander the Great plundered all the treasures from the city's treasury, loading them onto three thousand camels and transporting them to Macedonia. He also had the gold leaf removed from the stone columns, the reliefs on the walls, and the staircases. Persia at that time was famous for its abundance of gold, silver, and jewels, and was one of the wealthiest nations.

The palace, once adorned with 100 stone columns, now stands only as marble pedestals, alongside scattered fragments of the once towering columns. At the Gate of All Nations, three columns, nearly 20 meters tall, still stand, topped with statues of creatures with bird heads and lion bodies. Nearby are depictions of winged bulls soaring into the air…

About 12 km northwest of Persepolis lies Naqsh-e Rustam, the ancient tomb of Persian kings, situated on a rocky hill.

This destination attracts visitors primarily because of the enormous reliefs adorning its facade, dedicated to the kings of the Achaemenid dynasty. Some of these reliefs are damaged, the oldest of which depicts a man with an unusual head, believed to be the origin of human writing history.

Naqsh-e Rustam was considered a sacred mountain range during the Elamite period – the time when the first human writing systems were formed. The mountain range's face became a burial ground for Achaemenid kings and their families in the 5th and 4th centuries BC, and also the site of many important collective rituals.

This mausoleum complex includes several smaller tombs of kings from the pre-Christian era: Darius I the Great (522-486), Xerxes I (486-465), Artaxerxes I (465-424), and Darius II (423-404). The unfinished tomb may belong to Artaxerxes III, the longest-reigning king (2 years), but it could also be that of Darius III (336-330), the last king of the Achaemenid dynasty.

To this day, time and war have ravaged most of the ancient Persian monuments, but those cultural and architectural values ​​still endure in Persepolis and the tomb of Naqsh-e Rustam, as a great testament to the prosperity of the First Persian Empire. Persepolis was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

Today, the Persepolis ruins are one of Iran's most popular tourist destinations year-round. Every year, Persepolis hosts religious ceremonies and community festivals.

Huong Thao