Persepolis, Old Persian Parsa, or modern-day Takto-E Jamsid is the ancient capital of the king of the Iranian Akemen Dynasty (Persian) dynasty, located about 50 km northeast of Shiraz in the Fars region of southwestern Iran. In 1979, the site was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The site is marked on a large terrace adjacent to Kuh-e Rahmat (“Mount of Mercy”) on the east side. The other three sides are formed by retaining walls that vary in height on slopes with ground gradients of 4-12 meters. On the west side, two flights of 111 short stone staircases lead to the top. The terrace features many enormous building ruins, all composed of dark gray stones (often polished on marble-like surfaces) from adjacent mountains. The stones were cut with maximum accuracy into large size blocks laid without mortars. Many of them are still appropriate. Particularly impressive are the huge columns, of which 13 are the audience halls of Darius I, known as Apadana, given to a similar hall built by Darius of Sousa (522-486 BC). I’m still standing at ~486). There are still two rows in the entrance hall of the Xerxes gate, with the third being assembled there from the broken part.