Persepolis, Sheep Persepolis (Old-Persian: Pārśapura) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (ca. 550–330 BC). Persepolis is situated 70 km northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. The earliest remains of Persepolis date from around 515 BCE. It was Cyrus the Great (Kūrosh) who chose the site of Persepolis, but that it was Darius I (Daryush) who bui...