The private palace of Darius I at Persepolis was called the Tachara. Also known as the Palace of Darius the Great, it is one of the principal Achaemenid buildings on the Persepolis terrace in southwestern Iran.
Darius began the palace, and his son Xerxes I completed at least part of the work after Darius died in 486 BC. The structure is built from finely cut gray stone and is noted for its reliefs, inscriptions, and monumental doorways. Its Old Persian name is commonly translated as “winter palace,” although the building’s exact practical use remains debated.
The Tachara was not simply a private residence in the modern sense. Its decoration and setting indicate that it also served ceremonial and representational purposes. Reliefs show attendants, soldiers, and delegations bringing gifts, while royal imagery reinforces the authority of the Achaemenid king.
It is easy to confuse the Tachara with the Apadana, Persepolis’s great audience hall, or the Hall of a Hundred Columns. The Tachara is smaller and is especially associated with Darius; the Apadana was designed for grand royal receptions, while the hundred-column hall served a different monumental function.