Persepolis, known in Persian as Takht-e Jamshid, is an Achaemenid palace complex in Fars Province, northeast of Shiraz. Its stone gateways, columned halls and carved stairways are the focus of a visit.
The reliefs show royal authority through processions of guards, courtiers and gift-bearing delegations. Look at their different clothing and the objects and animals they carry: these details make the imagery more informative than a general view of the ruins.
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Why Persepolis Is Significant
Scholars disagree about whether Persepolis was built for Nowruz celebrations. Its royal ceremonies are important, but identifying the stairway processions as a specific New Year event is an interpretation, not an established fact.
The Wider Significance of Persepolis
Persepolis was the ceremonial centre of the Achaemenid Empire, the first great Persian empire, which at its height reached from the Indus in the east to the Aegean in the west. Its scale and decoration presented the king as the guardian of order across that territory, to his own subjects and to foreign envoys alike.
The stairway reliefs are also a historical record. They show delegations from across the empire bringing gifts, each with its own clothing and objects, and so preserve a picture of the many peoples under Achaemenid rule. The art itself combines traditions from different parts of the empire.
Its influence outlasted the fire of 330 BCE. Its architecture left a lasting mark on later Persian building, and the ruins, long protected under sand and earth, allowed modern archaeologists to recover much of the site. UNESCO inscribed Persepolis on the World Heritage List in 1979, and for many Iranians it remains a symbol of national pride.
Where is Persepolis and how far is it from Shiraz?
Persepolis lies within Iran’s Fars Province, approximately 57 kilometers from Shiraz. To reach Persepolis, you must journey to the Fars Province and Marvdasht county.
The archaeological site of Persepolis is situated approximately 10 kilometers to the north of Marvdasht, resting in the foothills of a mountain previously referred to as “Rahmat,” known by other names like “Mitra” and “Mehr.”
Persepolis was built upon an elevated platform, standing 8 to 18 meters above the Marvdasht plain. The site comprises distinct sections, encompassing ceremonial palaces, smaller private palaces, the royal treasury, and defensive fortifications, including protective walls.
Where does the name Persepolis come from?
The ancient city was called Pārsa. The Greek-derived name Persepolis means the city of the Persians.
Takht-e Jamshid means Jamshid’s Throne. It reflects a later association with the legendary king, rather than the name of an Achaemenid founder. Iranica explains these separate naming traditions.
History of Persepolis
Darius I began the terrace around 518 BCE. UNESCO’s account identifies him as the founder.
Xerxes I and Artaxerxes I continued the building programme. Persepolis developed through successive royal projects, rather than one construction period with a single completion date.
The complex combined a partly natural, partly constructed terrace with monumental approaches and large halls. UNESCO notes the influence of Mesopotamian models.
The administrative tablets offer a more precise account of work and provisioning than comparisons with modern employment. Richard Hallock’s publication describes records of food commodities and organised rations, including supplies for authorised travellers. These records do not establish that everyone who built Persepolis had modern worker insurance.
Persepolis.
The reliefs, inscriptions and administrative tablets preserve different kinds of evidence about the Achaemenid court.
The Fortification Archive was excavated in 1933 CE during the University of Chicago expedition. Its main dated records belong to 509–493 BCE; the separate Treasury Archive covers 492–457 BCE, as listed in ISAC’s study of the two archives. The discovery year must not be confused with the ancient dates of the tablets.
Who set Persepolis on fire?
Alexander’s forces took Persepolis in 330 BCE, and the palaces were burned. The ancient accounts connect the destruction with Alexander but differ in how they explain his decision.
In Arrian’s Anabasis, Book III, chapter 18, Parmenion urges Alexander to preserve the palace. Alexander instead presents the burning as retaliation for the Persian destruction of temples in Greece. Arrian criticises that reasoning.
The Burning of Persepolis
The Burning of Persepolis, a historical painting depicting the destruction of the Persian ceremonial capital, led by Thaïs. Created in 1890 by Georges-Antoine Rochegrosse, this particular piece, titled “Study for the Burning of Persepolis”, is an oil on original canvas.
Another tradition, preserved in accounts by Diodorus and Plutarch and summarised in the notes to Arrian’s translation, places Thaïs at a drunken celebration that leads to the fire. This is a competing ancient narrative, not proof of a particular companion’s private motives.
These literary narratives were written after the events. They should be read alongside the archaeological remains, rather than treated as eyewitness descriptions of every action.
Persepolis Before its Destruction
Before its destruction, the terrace contained royal residences, audience halls, a treasury and fortifications. Their different functions help explain the layout better than treating the entire site as one palace.
Early drawings and excavation photographs document how the ruins looked before later clearance and conservation. They are evidence for the history of the site’s study, not images of the ancient fire.
The University of Chicago’s account of its photographic archive describes excavations in 1931–1939 and aerial photography in 1937–1939. Those records help researchers compare exposed buildings with the surrounding landscape.
Different Sections of Persepolis
The following sections identify the principal buildings on the terrace.
What is the total area of Persepolis?
The terrace covers approximately 125,000 square metres, or 12.5 hectares. This is the area listed for the World Heritage property.
Entrance Staircase and Gate of All Nations
The northwestern entrance has two returning flights of 111 steps each. Their low, approximately 10-centimetre risers made a gradual ceremonial approach. Shahbazi’s architectural account rejects the popular explanation that they were designed for riding horses up the terrace.
The staircase reaches the Gate of All Nations, a four-columned hall with three doorways. Its southern exit leads towards the Apadana courtyard; its eastern exit leads along Army Street towards the Unfinished Gate.
Apadana Palace (Grand Audience Hall)
The Apadana had 36 columns in its main hall and 12 in each of three porticoes, making 72 altogether. The stairway reliefs are a particular focus for viewing its royal imagery.
The building is generally known as the Apadana, or audience palace.
The Palace of a Hundred Columns
The Hundred-Column Hall had a square main hall approximately 68.5 metres across, with ten rows of ten columns. Its name describes that arrangement, rather than a world size record.
In terms of size, the Palace of a Hundred Columns is considered the second-largest palace in Persepolis, and according to Professor Herzfeld’s research, its construction began during the time of Xerxes and was completed during the reign of Artaxerxes I.
Tachar Palace
Tachar, Darius’s palace, stands south of the Apadana. Its rectangular plan measures approximately 40 by 30 metres, with a twelve-columned main hall, smaller rooms and a southern portico. The doorway inscription DPa names Darius as the builder; Shahbazi’s account identifies the different inscriptions and spaces.
The doorway reliefs show Darius with attendants, while other doorways depict guards, servants and royal combat scenes. The southern stairway shows figures carrying food and utensils. These are carved scenes, with evidence of original colour, rather than simply paintings on the walls.
Xerxes added to Darius’s Tachar. The later staircase at its northwest is attributed to Artaxerxes III, not Artaxerxes II, in Shahbazi’s account.
Palace H
Palace H is a separate building south of the Tachar courtyard. It should not be confused with the Hadiš, Xerxes’ residence.
Hadiš Palace
The Hadiš, Xerxes’ residence, stood higher on the terrace. Its main square hall had 36 columns. A southern balcony overlooked the plain; a twelve-columned portico lay to the north, with additional apartments on either side. Stairways connected it with neighbouring courtyards and the complex conventionally called the harem.
The Hadiš takes its name from a term used in an inscription. Its doorjamb reliefs show Xerxes with attendants; the name does not identify a wife. Iranica’s architectural account describes the palace and its inscriptions.
The Queen’s Palace
The building conventionally called the Queen’s Palace stands west of the Treasury, in two connected wings.
Shahbazi follows Schmidt’s identification of it as Xerxes’ harem, based on its apartments and restricted entrance. This is an architectural interpretation.
The Triple-Gated Palace (Council Hall)
The Tripylon, or Central Palace, connected several terrace buildings. Its main hall had three doorways and four columns.
The square hall measures approximately 15.46 metres across. Its doorway reliefs depict royal figures and attendants.
A northern stairway links the Apadana courtyard to its portico. The southern doorway opens towards a courtyard and the area east of the Hadiš.
The northern portico’s capitals depict human-headed bulls, rather than an established symbol of intellect.
Palace G
Palace G belongs to the later building programme at Persepolis. Jona Lendering’s site catalogue lists it as the palace of Artaxerxes III, among the fourth-century additions. It is distinct from Palace H and the Hadiš.
The Unfinished Gate
The Unfinished Gate stands north of the Hundred-Column Hall’s forecourt. It is a separate gatehouse, not a building designed in the shape of an ox.
The Royal Treasury Building
Darius founded the Treasury at the terrace’s southeastern corner. Later extensions by Darius and Xerxes changed its plan.
Its Elamite administrative tablets record wages and other expenditure for workers and officials, rather than a modern declaration of labour rights.
Tomb of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III
The rock-cut tombs above the terrace are attributed to Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III. Their façades overlook the palace complex.
How Were the Columns of Persepolis Built?
The stone columns supported a lighter timber roof. As UNESCO explains, wooden lintels and carefully designed capitals allowed large halls with relatively slender supports.
Underground Water Channels
Rock-cut drains and channels carried rainwater away from the terrace. Shafts within walls connected roof drainage to underground channels; hillside works also helped divert runoff. These were water-management features, rather than simply a modern-style sewage system.
The Monumental Gate Found Near Persepolis
Twelve years of excavation by Shiraz University and the University of Bologna uncovered a monumental gateway about 12 metres high with a footprint of roughly 30 by 40 metres. The archaeologist Alireza Askari Chavardi, who announced the find, described its decoration as recalling the Ishtar Gate of Babylon. The work shows that the wider Persepolis landscape was more than a ceremonial terrace.
Persepolis Museum
The complex identified as the harem was partly rebuilt for the 1930s expedition. It subsequently served as the Persepolis Museum.
The archaeological finds include more than monumental sculpture. Schmidt’s Persepolis II reports pottery and other Treasury finds; its appendices include a study of charred textiles. That publication documents excavated material, rather than establishing which objects are on display today.
Reconstruction of Persepolis
The Metropolitan Museum’s history of Ernst Herzfeld’s work distinguishes earlier visits and surveys from the organised excavation that began in 1931. Excavation, documentation and preservation were linked parts of that programme.
Herzfeld directed the University of Chicago expedition before Erich Schmidt succeeded him. An inscription naming Xerxes helps establish royal building activity; it does not, by itself, prove that a building housed a queen.
Schmidt’s excavations ran from 1935 to 1939. His Persepolis II reports finds from the Treasury and other parts of the site. The publisher’s contents list includes studies of pottery, glass, metals, pigments and charred textiles.
These excavation publications provide evidence for recovered objects and materials. They should be distinguished from a current museum display list or a claim that every surviving feature has been reconstructed.
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Dear writer persepolis is in marvdasht city
But you write is in shiraz please correct your information