Istakhr

Istakhr lies in the Pulvar valley of Fars, close to the monumental remains of Persepolis. The city was an important centre of Sasanian Iran: its ruling family established a base of power here before Ardashir founded the dynasty, and its mint produced royal coins. Nearby, the palaces of the Achaemenid kings stood on the great terrace later known as Takht-e Jamshid, or the Throne of Jamshid.

Istakhr resisted the Arab conquest in the seventh century but remained an important town in the early Islamic period. Its position on the routes of Fars and the memory of its ancient institutions gave it continuing significance. As Shiraz grew, however, Istakhr's former prominence declined, and later visitors found an increasingly ruined city beside the older monuments of Persepolis. Medieval Iranians associated the great stone terrace with the legendary king Jamshid. Its columns, carved stairways and reliefs survived as visible traces of an ancient royal past, even as the city of Istakhr dwindled beside them. The two neighbouring sites preserved different chapters of the history of Fars in the same valley.