Trips back in time: Five journeys you won’t forget

Iran’s lost imperial city; The rustic quintas of Portugal; Parisian echoes in Hanoi; A stroll through ancient Rome

Iran’s lost imperial city

Persepolis in southern Iran “is the greatest ancient site between the Holy Land and India,” said Rick Steves in the Chicago Tribune. Darius and his son Xerxes built this complex of palaces around 500 B.C. For the next 200 years, their successors ruled over the Persian Empire, which extended from Greece to India at its peak. Dignitaries from 28 kingdoms once walked through Persepolis’ majestic “Gate of All Nations” to “pay their taxes and humble respects to the emperor.” Cuneiform inscriptions over the gate roughly translate as: “The king is empowered by God. Submit totally to him for the good of Persia.” Cut into the mountains adjacent to Persepolis are “grand royal tombs, on the scale of Egyptian pharaohs.” Those of Darius and Xerxes, featuring huge carved reliefs of ferocious lions, still evoke the rulers’ awesome authority. The Persian Empire came to an end when Alexander the Great sacked and burned the city in 333 B.C., and “Persepolis has been in ruins ever since.” Today the site is popular both with curious tourists and proud Iranians, who come here “to connect with their Persian heritage.”

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