Located in Fars province, the homeland of Achaemenids(Hakhamaneshian), Persepolis was built on arock on the slopes of Mehr(Mercy)mountain. It lies 57 kms northeast of Shiraz. In 518 BC, Darius I chose the place and, accompanied by his son, Xerxes (khashayarsha), as well as Artaxerxes I (Ardeshir I), Artaxerxes II, built the magnificent construction of persepolis, the citadel of Parsa, covering more than 125000 m^2. It is mainly constructed of stone and decorated with splendid patterns and inscriptions and organized into several important parts: ceremonial places, halls, small dedicated places, royal treasury, protective castles and ramparts and tombs. It should be emphasized that the object of building such a castle in Fars was not having a governmental and political capital. The governmental, political and commercial capital in the Achaemenid era was at first Pasargade and then Babylon, Susa and Ecbatan. Darius aimed at having a national and ceremonial center for the most important Iranian festivals such as Nowrooz. Perhaps it was for the first time in history that a combination of enormous talents, immense wealth and firm decisiens was gathered in one place. The result was the introduction of a new kind of art called the Achaemenid art and architecture. The extensive homeland of Achaemenids included 31 contries and stretched from the Nile river and Ben Qazi in Lybia, and from the Danube in Europe to central Asia. The main characteristics of its government was as fallow: respecting individual and national freedom, emphasizing the enforcement of order and law, encouraging provincal arts and culture and developing commerce and art.
One of the important discoveries in Persepollis was the earthen seal-like tablets on the sides of which texts in Elamite-script, about the workers and their employers and also the wage amount for the workers who worked in Persepolis are carved the magnificent golden era of Persepolis didn't last very long. It was burned by Alexander in 330 BC and its treasures were looted. In the past 200 years, the tourists pillaged the treasures which knowadays decorate the world museums. The remains of Persepolis illustrate splendid art and unique erchitecture.

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