Archaeological Sites in Iran
Anahita Temple
The Temple of Anahita at Kangavar is one of two archaeological sites in Iran attributed to the ancient Iranian water goddess Anahita[1]. Located in Kermanshah Province, this temple complex is notable…
Apadana Castle Shush
Built 521–515 BC during the Achaemenid Empire under Darius I, the Palace of Darius in Susa was a royal complex constructed parallel to Persepolis [1]. It used manpower and raw materials from across…
Apadana Palace
The Apadana Palace is a large hypostyle hall at Persepolis, Iran, dating to the first half of the 5th century BC [1]. It was designed by Darius the Great and completed by Xerxes I, making it one of…
Azargoshnasp Fire Temple
One of three supreme Zoroastrian sacred fires of pre-Islamic Iran, housed within the Takht-e Soleyman complex in northwestern Iran. Established as a religious sanctuary in the early-to-mid 5th…
Behistun Inscription
The Behistun Inscription is a multilingual rock relief carved c. 520 BC on a cliff face 100 m above an ancient road at Mount Behistun in Kermanshah Province, Iran, commissioned by Darius I the Great.…
Bishapur Ancient City
An ancient Sasanian city in southwestern Iran, founded in AD 266 by Shapur I to celebrate his victory over Rome. Located 15 km west of Kazerun along the Shapur River, it was designed on a Hippodamian…
Dokan-e-Davood
Dokan-e-Davood ("Shop of David") is an Achaemenid rock-cut tomb in the Zagros Mountains, located 3 km southeast of Sar-Pol-e Zahab in Kermanshah Province, Iran. Discovered by Henry Rawlinson in 1836,…
Eshkaft Salman
Eshkaft-e Salman ("Solomon's Cave") is an Elamite rock relief site in Khuzestan province, Iran, approximately 35 km from Izeh. The cave contains four reliefs from the Elamite civilization -- two…
Ganjnameh Ancient Inscriptions
Ganjnameh is a pair of trilingual Achaemenid inscriptions carved on granite rock at 2,000 meters elevation on Mount Alvand, 12 km southwest of Hamadan in western Iran [1]. Created in the 6th-5th…
Gate of All Nations Persepolis
Monumental gateway at Persepolis built c. 470 BC by Achaemenid king Xerxes I (r. 486-465 BC), who named it 'The Gate of All Countries'. The grand hall was approximately 25m square with columns 16.5m…
Kul Farah Historical Site
Kul-e Farah is an open-air sanctuary in a gorge approximately 7 km northeast of Izeh in Khuzestan province, Iran, containing six Elamite rock reliefs carved between the 9th and 6th centuries BC. The…
Naqsh-e Rajab
Naqsh-e Rajab is a Sassanid archaeological site about 3 km north of Persepolis in Fars Province, Iran, featuring four rock-cut bas-reliefs carved into a grotto-like bay at the foot of the Mountain of…
Nashtifan Windmills
The Nashtifan Windmills in northeastern Iran are among the oldest windmills in the world, estimated at around 1,000 years old with a design tracing back to Persian innovations c. 500 AD. Built of…
Pasargadae
Pasargadae, founded c. 550 BC by Cyrus the Great, was the first capital of the Achaemenid Empire in present-day Fars Province, Iran. The UNESCO World Heritage Site covers 1.6 sq km and includes the…
Persepolis
Persepolis was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire, begun c. 518 BCE by Darius I on an enormous terrace platform of over 125,000 square meters in southwestern Iran. Successive kings…
Prison of Solomon
The Prison of Solomon (Zendan-e Soleyman) is a 100m cone-shaped hill with an 80m deep pit roughly 65m in diameter, located about 3km west of Takht-e Soleyman in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran. The…
Tall-e Takht Fortification
Tall-e Takht is a monumental stone fortification at Pasargadae in Fars province, Iran, situated on a natural hill northeast of the Tomb of Cyrus. The massive platform measures approximately 98 by 79…
Taq-e Bostan
Taq-e Bostan ("Arch of the Garden") is a complex of large Sassanid rock reliefs located 5 km from central Kermanshah, Iran, at the foot of the Zagros Mountains. Dating from the 4th century AD onward,…
Tomb of Artaxerxes III
Rock-cut tomb (358-338 BC) traditionally attributed to Persian king Artaxerxes III Ochus, located at Persepolis, Iran. Carved into rock at 40 meters height, it features a two-column inner chamber, a…
Tomb of Cyrus the Great
The Tomb of Cyrus the Great (c. 530 BC) at Pasargadae is the mausoleum of the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. The structure measures approximately 13.75 x 12.25 m and stands about 11 m high,…
Tomb of Darius II
The Tomb of Darius II (c. 423-404 BC) is a rock-cut royal tomb at Naqsh-e Rostam, the Achaemenid necropolis located about 13 km northwest of Persepolis in Fars Province, Iran. It is the leftmost of…
Tomb of the Scene
Rock-cut tombs carved into Shogh Ali Mountain near the city of Sahneh in Kermanshah Province, Iran, approximately 50 km east of Kermanshah. Known locally as the Kay Kavus Tomb and the Tomb of Shirin…