Persepolis - known as Parsa by the Persians - was a vast and impressive place. The city was founded by the Great King Darius I (522-486 BC) and continued by his successors, Xerxes (485-465 BC) and Artaxerxes I (465-424). It was located in the province of Fars (the Persian heartland).

Persepolis - known as Parsa by the Persians - was a vast and impressive place. It was one of the four capital cities that existed during the course of the Persian Empire, along with Pasargadae, Susa and Hamadan. The city was founded by the Great King Darius I (522-486 BC) and continued by his successors, Xerxes (485-465 BC) and Artaxerxes I (465-424). It was located in the province of Fars (the Persian heartland).

Persepolis was above all a ceremonial complex where representatives from the different areas of the empire gathered and feasted with the king. It was built on a huge stone platform with access via a grand staircase with a gateway at the top. There were many splendid palaces, the largest being the Apadana (Audience Hall), which had stone columns 20 metres high. Other buildings included the Hall of a Hundred Columns, and beyond this the Treasury, where valuables like gold and silver vessels were stored.

The city was burnt to the ground by Alexander the Great in 330 BC and was never rebuilt. Ruins - stone foundations, door jambs, some columns, column bases and capitals - remain to inspire modern visitors.

The small extract below is taken from a large clay tablet with foundation inscription of Darius I. The inscription, written in old Persian, describes the construction of Darius's palace at Susa, and how he brought workmen and materials from different parts of the empire.

'The goldsmiths who wrought the gold, those were Medes and Egyptians. The men who wrought the wood, those were Sardians and Egyptians. The men who wrought the baked brick, those were Babylonians. The men who adorned the wall, those were Medes and Egyptians.'