Iran is home to Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Persian Empire. The ruins stand near modern Marvdasht in Fars Province, southwest of Iran’s present-day capital.
Darius I began constructing Persepolis around 518 BCE, and later Achaemenid rulers expanded the complex. Its terraces, audience halls, stairways, and reliefs presented the empire as a vast, ordered realm whose peoples brought tribute to the king.
The site was not simply a residential capital. It served important ceremonial and royal functions, especially during imperial festivals such as Nowruz. In 330 BCE, Alexander the Great captured Persepolis and burned parts of the complex; ancient accounts differ about the circumstances and extent of the destruction.
Persepolis is one of Iran’s most important archaeological sites. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 1979, recognizing its exceptional evidence for Achaemenid architecture, art, and imperial culture.