History

You can read Iran’s past on the ground. Elamite brick at Susa and Chogha Zanbil. Achaemenid columns at Persepolis. Sasanian kings carved into the cliffs of Naqsh-e Rostam and Taq-e Bostan. Safavid tilework around Naqsh-e Jahan Square in Isfahan, and Qajar mirror halls in Tehran’s Golestan Palace.

Many sites hold several eras at once. The Jameh Mosque of Isfahan keeps Seljuk domes, Mongol-era stucco and Safavid tiles under one roof. Naqsh-e Rostam, a short drive from Persepolis, has Sasanian reliefs cut below the tombs of Achaemenid kings.

This section covers the empires, rulers, faiths and turning points behind those places. Start with our timeline pillar, Iranian dynasties from Elam to the Pahlavis, then go deeper era by era:

• Ancient Elam
• The Achaemenid Empire
• Cyrus the Great
• The Sasanian Empire
• The Islamic conquest of Persia
• The Safavid dynasty
• The Qajar dynasty
• The Pahlavi dynasty

Want to stand in front of the stones themselves? Our Iran tours and private tours include the major historical sites.