Pasargadae - UNESCO Site near Shiraz

This masterpiece is the only building that shows how good the Achaemenids were at building things. The simple grandeur of Pasargadae’s architecture offers a sense of balance and beauty that was never seen before or after the time of the Achaemenians.

The principal buildings stand in magnificent isolation, often with a standard orientation but scattered over an extensive area. Even though a single wall did not surround the whole site, the northern approaches were controlled by a strong citadel, and the most important monuments were protected by their borders.

The main thing about the citadel is a big stone platform that sticks out from a low cone-shaped hill. Two unfinished stone staircases and a tall, rough-hewn facade were probably meant to be part of a high palace enclosure. South of the citadel, on more or less flat ground, was a large walled park with beautiful gardens that were watered and surrounded by royal buildings.

In the northwest corner of the settlement is a walled area called the “sacred precinct,” with a sizeable terraced mound that looks down on two fire altars standing alone. Even though the whole enclosure was used for religious ceremonies, there is no proof that it held the famous shrine of the goddess Anahiti, which was said to be where certain rituals were held at the start of each new monarch’s reign.