Pasargadae

Pasargadae is where the Persian Empire began to think of itself in stone. Cyrus the Great founded it in the 6th century BC, close to the field where he defeated the Median king Astyages in 550 BC, and named it after his own clan. It served as the first Achaemenid capital until Darius shifted the seat of power to Persepolis, some 40 km away, and it never became the dense city Persepolis did: its palaces were scattered pavilions set in a landscape of gardens, water channels and walkways stretching about three kilometres from the tomb to the fortress hill.

The monument everyone comes for stands alone at the southern end of the site: a gabled stone chamber on six broad stepped courses, its interior only about 3.2 m long and just over 2 m wide and high, with a low, narrow doorway. For centuries local people called it the tomb of the Mother of Solomon; Greek writers, reporting Alexander's visit after he sacked Persepolis, identified it as the grave of Cyrus, and that identification is widely accepted though not proven by any surviving inscription. Its form mixes Mesopotamian stepped platforms with an Anatolian-style chamber, and a carved rosette in the gable is almost the only decoration.

Further north lie the remains of two royal palaces and Gate R, the oldest known free-standing ceremonial gateway, often seen as the ancestor of the Gate of All Nations at Persepolis. The palace gardens laid out between them are the earliest known example of the Persian chahar bagh, the fourfold garden plan that became a hallmark of Persian design. On a hill at the northern edge stands the fortress of Tall-e Takht, and the remains of a tomb identified in 2006 as that of Cyrus's son Cambyses II lie nearby. Ernst Herzfeld began excavating in 1905, David Stronach's British team worked here in the 1960s and found a hoard of Achaemenid gold jewellery, and the site became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.

This is an exposed site, and distances between the tomb and the palace area are considerable, so allow time and carry water.

Getting there

The site lies immediately beside the small town of Pasargad (Madar-e Soleyman), about 90 km northeast of Shiraz. The nearest airport is Shiraz Shahid Dastghaib International (SYZ), about 93 km away; from Shiraz most visitors come by car or on an organised day trip, often combined with Persepolis, which lies on the way.