[custom_adv] Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. It is situated 60 km northeast of the city of Shiraz in Fars Province, homeland. The earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BCE. It exemplifies the Achaemenid style of architecture. UNESCO declared the ruins of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979. [custom_adv] The English word Persepolis is derived from Greek Persépolis , a compound of Pérsēs and pólis , meaning "the Persian city" or "the city of the Persians". To the ancient Persians, the city was known as Pārsa , which is also the word for the region of Persia. [custom_adv] An inscription left by Sasanian prince Shapur Sakanshah, the son of Hormizd II, refers to the site as Sad-stūn, meaning "Hundred Pillars". [custom_adv] Because medieval Persians attributed the site to Jamshid, an persian mythological king, it has been referred to as Takht-e-Jamshid , literally meaning "Throne of Jamshid". Another name given to the site in the medieval period was Čehel Menār, literally meaning "Forty Minarets". [custom_adv] As is typical of Achaemenid cities, Persepolis was built on a (partially) artificial platform.The site includes a 125,000 square meter terrace, partly artificially constructed and partly cut out of a mountain, with its east side leaning on Rahmat Mountain. [custom_adv] The other three sides are formed by retaining walls, which vary in height with the slope of the ground. Rising from 5–13 metres (16–43 feet) on the west side was a double stair. From there, it gently slopes to the top. To create the level terrace, depressions were filled with soil and heavy rocks, which were joined together with metal clips. [custom_adv] Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest remains of Persepolis date back to 515 BC. André Godard, the French archaeologist who excavated Persepolis in the early 1930s, believed that it was Cyrus the Great who chose the site of Persepolis, but that it was Darius I who built the terrace and the palaces. Inscriptions on these buildings support the belief that they were constructed by Darius. [custom_adv] With Darius I, the scepter passed to a new branch of the royal house. Persepolis probably became the capital of Persia proper during his reign. However, the city's location in a remote and mountainous region made it an inconvenient residence for the rulers of the empire. [custom_adv] The country's true capitals were Susa, Babylon and Ecbatana. This may be why the Greeks were not acquainted with the city until Alexander the Great took and plundered it. [custom_adv] Darius I's construction of Persepolis were carried out parallel to those of the Palace of Susa.According to Gene R. Garthwaite, the Susa Palace served as Darius' model for Persepolis. [custom_adv] Darius I ordered the construction of the Apadana and the Council Hall (Tripylon or the "Triple Gate"), as well as the main imperial Treasury and its surroundings. These were completed during the reign of his son, Xerxes I. [custom_adv] Further construction of the buildings on the terrace continued until the downfall of the Achaemenid Empire. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, the Greek historian Ctesias mentioned that Darius I's grave was in a cliff face that could be reached with an apparatus of ropes.
