Will Miss #29: Persepolis (Takht-e-Jamshid) - a UNESCO Heritage Site

Persepolis. Another one of Iran's treasures. The celebrated capital of the Achaemenid Empire. According to Wikipedia, the "earliest remains of Persepolis date from around 515 BCE. UNESCO declared the citadel of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persepolis - a pretty good introduction to Persepolis; you should check it out).

I'll let the photos do the talking:

 Oh look, an introduction tent! I didn't go in it, though.

One of my first glimpses of real-life Persepolis!! I couldn't believe I was finally visiting.

Notice the wide stairway and narrow stairs. Was it like this for safety? No. For architectural/engineering reasons? No. The stairs were like this because - get this - the Persian royals wanted their clothes to look nice and elegant as they went up and down, and these stairs allow for just that. I guess you could say my people had priorities...

 The Gate of All Nations (aka the Gate of All Lands) - built by King Xerxes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gate_of_All_Nations).

 Apandana Palace. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apadana).

 The Hadish, Xerxes's private palace.

Oh, look, a Farvahar! (One of Zoroastrianism's - ancient Iran's state religion -  most famous symbols: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faravahar).

On the right, you can see Babylonian cuneiform, ancient Persia's writing system.
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Months later, it is still surreal that I got to walk where the great kings of this land once walked. 

I will miss Persepolis.