I met a traveller from an antique land Who said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things, The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed. And on the pedestal these words appear: "My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!" Nothing beside remains: round the decay Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, The lone and level sands stretch far away.                   by Percy Bysshe Shelley

"Look on my works, ye mighty ... "

Besides Persepolis, two other cities which we saw from the Achaemenian era were Susa and Pasargadae. There was not much left of either of them.

This picture is self-explanatory

Susa was an ancient city of the Elamite, Persian and Parthian empires. It is located about 150 miles east of the Tigris River in Khuzestan Province of Iran. It is one of the oldest settlements of the region, probably being founded about 4000BC. In historic times is was the capital of the Elemite Empire.

There is not much left standing at Susa

Susa is mentioned in the Bible; both Daniel and Nehemiah lived there and Esther became its queen. It was sacked by the Assyrian armies in 640BC but was rebuilt about a century later by Achaemenian rulers as their winter capital. It was the administrative capital of Darius I but the break-up of Alexander’s empire marked the end of the city as a capital. British archaeologist William Loftus first identified Susa in the 1850s with the biblical Shushan.

Two-headed Lion against a stormy sky

The ruins of Pasargardae lie 87 km northeast of Persepolis in Fars Province of Iran and was the first capital of the Persian Empire. The construction of the city by Cyrus the Great, begun in 546BC, was left unfinished because he died in about 530BC. It remained the Persian capital until Darius built Persepolis.

The most important monument is the tomb of Cyrus the Great, although there is no evidence that the tomb was his. Greek historians tell us that Alexander the Great believed it was the tomb of Cyrus and when he looted and destroyed Persepolis he paid it a visit.

Fresco at Pasagardae

During the Islamic conquest of Iran the Arab armies came upon the tomb and planned to destroy it, considering it to be in direct violation of Islam. However, the caretakers of the grave managed to convince the Arab command that the tomb was that of the mother of King Solomon, thus sparing it from destruction.

Remains of a fresco. The sun was in a very awkward position for this photo

When we were there it was surrounded by scaffolding, obviously some restoration work was being done. Of the city itself there was very little left.

The tomb of Cyrus the Great

The potted history lesson is with thanks to Wikipedia.