The Secrets of Engineering and the Splendor of the Achaemenid Empire | How Persepolis Survived 2,500 Years

Beyond the ceremonial spaces lay more intimate quarters. The Tachara, the private palace of Darius, remains the best preserved. Constructed of darker, highly polished stone that once gleamed like mirrors, it displayed images of the king entering and leaving, surrounded by attendants. Later dynasties left inscriptions on its walls, from Sasanian princes to medieval rulers, showing the enduring sanctity of this royal dwelling.