Explore

The ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire, begun around 518 BC. Its stone reliefs include the lotus rosette that inspired the plan of Pardis.

The first Achaemenid capital and the tomb of Cyrus the Great, with the remains of one of the earliest known Persian gardens.

A garden pavilion where visitors still open the poet’s Divan for a fal, a reading of fortune.

Inscriptions carved by Darius and Xerxes into the granite of Mount Alvand, in Old Persian, Elamite and Babylonian.

The resting place of Ibn Sina, the philosopher and physician whose Canon of Medicine was taught in Europe for centuries.

A masterpiece of Safavid tilework on Naqsh-e Jahan Square, famous for the echo beneath its dome.

Cypress-lined paths and a pavilion reflected in a long pool, part of the UNESCO-listed Persian Garden.

Spring-fed channels of turquoise water running through one of the oldest surviving Persian gardens.

Ancient broadleaf forests along the Caspian Sea, a UNESCO natural heritage site.

A vast water cave explored by boat, its lakes and channels winding deep beneath the mountains.

Towering sand ridges and some of the hottest land surface temperatures ever measured.