APADANA PALACE

The Apadana was the largest building on the Terrace at Persepolis, it was most likely the main hall of the kings. The columns reached 20m high and had complex capitals in the shape of bulls or lions. Here, the great king received the tribute from all the nations in the Achaemenid Empire and gave presents in return. Access to the hall is given by two monumental stairways, these are decorated by reliefs, showing delegates of the 23 subject nations of the Persian Empire paying tribute to Darius I.