Passargade

The first capital of the Iranian tribes and the Achaemenian empire, PASSARGADE is situated between the present-day Marvdasht and Sa'adatabad 130 km. to the northeast of Shiraz, not far from Isfahan-Shiraz road and less than 50 kin. from Persepolis. The nearby village is called Madare Suleiman (Solo's Mother) in much the same legendary way as Persepolis is known as Takht Jamshid (The Throne of Jamshid). But there is mythology about Cyrus the Great (550,530 B.C.) and his son Cambyses 11 (530,521 B.C.) who created the military encampment and associated buildings that the visitor now sees, with a clear influence of the Mesopotamian ziggurat.