PERSEPOLIS

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PERSEPOLIS MARCH 6, 2017

This morning we started off a little earlier to go to Persepolis. It took about 1 Hour and 20 minutes to get to the site. This site was selected by Darius the Great around 518 B.C. Persepolis was never intended to serve as the capital of the empire but was rather a site in the heartland of their empire that they used for special celebrations. Xerxes and Artaxerxes continued building on the site and expanding it. Resting on a terrace platform,Persepolis was the acropolis of Parsa, the “city of Persians”. It extends over an area of 125,000 sq meters, and crowns a rocky promontory which projects from Mount Mithra.

The platform is flanked on both sides by valleys where the houses of nobility were built. Further out from this were the mud brick houses and gardens. For two centuries Persepolis flourished and then it was plundered and completely destroyed by Alexander the Great. In 330 B.B. he conquered it, systematically plundered it and then set fire to it. The reasons for his act were: Persepolis was the holy center, the cradle of the Persian Empire. He burnt it to show the Persians that their domination and indeed their independence had terminated.

The approach to Persepolis is across a broad plain. There are then two staircases which ascend to the platform. In ancient time one was for nobles and the other for visitors. There are 110 steps up to the platform. At the top you approach the “Gate of All Lands”. The Gate of All Lands was a four-pillared hall. There were three stone doorways, one was the entrance leading into the hall, the other two served as exits opening to the court of the Apadana on the south and “Army Street” on the east. There are huge guardian bulls on the tops of the columns leading into the Apadana. The entrance into the “Army Street” was guarded by composite animals. “Army Street” was fitted with alcoves for guards to be positioned in. It leads to the unfinished gate in front of the forecourt of the hundred column hall.

The Apadana was the audience hall of Darius the Great. There were originally numerous columns in the hall and the hall itself was on another platform. The stairs leading to this platform have beautiful friezes on them. Originally the Apadana had four towers rising to a height of 22 meters. The main hall of the Apadana could hold up to 10,000 people.

The rest of Persepolis contains other palaces and buildings. The Tochara is the palace of Darius the Great. It is raised several meters higher than the Apandana and has beautiful carvings on the door jambs depicting Darius. We spent about three hours touring Persepolis.

We then went a short distance to the tombs of Darius II, Artaxerxes, Darius I and Xerxes. . These are carved rock chambers high on the mountain wall in a very spectacular setting.

Tonight we are going to the pink mosque and to the bazaar.

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