Around 90 kilometres north of Persepolis lies Pasargadae, the capital founded by Cyrus the Great, who built the first Persian Empire in the 6th century BC. On the open plain stands his tomb: a simple, gabled stone chamber on six stepped tiers, austere and moving. Ancient historians record that Alexander the Great visited it and ordered it restored.
Around the tomb are the remains of palaces, a gatehouse once guarded by a winged figure, and the outline of a royal garden whose four-part layout is considered the ancestor of the Persian garden. Pasargadae has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2004 and is a natural stop on the road between Shiraz and Yazd or Isfahan.
Highlights
- The stepped stone tomb of Cyrus the Great
- Remains of the royal palaces
- Traces of the first Persian four-part garden
- Wide views over the Morghab plain
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