Iran - Andrew Burke [231]
* * *
PALACE OF 100 COLUMNS
With an extravagant square hall measuring almost 70m square and supported by 100 stone columns, the Palace of 100 Columns (15) was the second-largest building at Persepolis, built during the reigns of Xerxes and Artaxerxes I. Some scholars believe it was used to receive the military elite upon whom the empire’s security rested. An impressive array of broken columns remain, and reliefs on the doorjambs at the back (south) of the building show a king, soldiers and representatives of 28 subject nations. Little remains of the Hall of 32 Columns (17), built at the end of the Achaemenid period. The arrival of Alexander and his armies stopped work on a larger version of the Gate of All Lands, in the wide courtyard in front of the Palace of 100 Columns, now aptly called the Unfinished Gate (18).
SOUND & LIGHT SHOW
On summer Thursday and Friday nights a sound and light show (IR5000; usually in Farsi) lights up Persepolis at 8.30pm. You must enter the site by 6pm. Check that it’s on at the Tourist Information in Shiraz.
Sleeping & Eating
Camping in the parking lot at Persepolis is allowed, but otherwise the only sleeping option is Persepolis Tourist Complex (Hotel Jahangardi; 447 4001; Takht-e Jamshid Blvd; r/ste US$24/50; ), about 1.5km west of Persepolis, where recently restored bungalows are fair value and the open-air teahouse is attractive.
Nearby, the best restaurant is the faux-grotto Parsian Restaurant ( 447 3555; Takht-e Jamshid Blvd; meals IR30,000-50,000; lunch & dinner). At Persepolis itself, snacks, drinks and ice creams can be bought near the ticket office.
Getting There & Away
Many travellers take tours or hire taxis (see Tours, Click here), but it’s not difficult to get to Persepolis by a combination of bus and local taxi from Shiraz. Take a minibus (IR4000, 42km, hourly) or savari (IR8000, or IR40,000 for the whole car to Persepolis) from the southern edge of Carandish Terminal to Marvdasht, where they stop at Basij Sq. From here you should be able to find a shuttle taxi (IR3000, 12km) or private taxi (IR15,000) to Persepolis. Alternatively, drivers in Marvdasht told us they would go dar baste to Persepolis and Naqshe-e Rostam, then back to Shiraz for IR120,000, including a couple of hours waiting time. Returning from the site, there are always plenty of vehicles lurking outside the entrance (about IR80,000 per car to Shiraz), or try hitching.
Return to beginning of chapter
NAQSH-E ROSTAM & NAQSH-E RAJAB
Definitely worth visiting as part of a trip to Persepolis are these sites The rock tombs of Naqsh-e Rostam (admission IR3000; 8am-5pm winter, 7.30am-5.30pm summer) are magnificent. Hewn out of a cliff high above the ground, the four tombs are believed to be those of Darius II, Artaxerxes I, Darius I and Xerxes I (from left to right as you look at the cliff) although historians are still debating this. The tombs of the later Artaxerxes above Persepolis were modelled on these. The openings lead to funerary chambers, where bones were stored after the vultures had picked them clean. The reliefs above the openings are similar to those at Persepolis, with the kings standing at fire altars supported by figures representing the subject nations below. The cruciform design of the tombs supposedly represents the cardinal points, but some historians wonder whether this religious symbol has any relationship to the Christian cross.
The eight Sassanian stone reliefs cut into the cliff depict scenes of imperial conquests and royal ceremonies; there are detailed descriptions in front of the tombs and reliefs.
Facing the cliff is the Kaba Zartosht. It was long thought to be an Achaemenid fire temple, but scholars now argue that it might have been an ancient calendar, or perhaps a treasury. The walls are marked with inscriptions cataloguing later Sassanian victories.
Naqsh-e Rajab (admission IR2000; 8am-5pm winter, 7.30am-5.30pm summer) is directly opposite the turn-off to Naqsh-e Rostam on the old Shiraz–Esfahan road and is worth a quick look. Four fine Sassanian bas-reliefs are hidden