Persepolis was the capital of the Persian Empire from 550 BC to 330 BC. Cyrus the Great chose the site of the capital, but it was Darius the Great who built the terrace and the palaces, and Persepolis became the capital of Persia proper during his reign. In 330 BC, Alexander the Great and his Macedonian army stormed the "Persian Gates" in the Zagros Mountains and proceeded to loot Persepolis. A fire at the Hadish Palace went on to spread and burn the other palaces, and it was said that the Greeks had set the fires to avenge the destruction of Athens' Acropolis Sanctuary during the Greco-Persian Wars in 480 BC. It remained the capital of Persia under Macedonian rule, but it went on to decline as Estakhr replaced Persepolis in importance.
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Location of Persepolis