PERSEPOLIS WAS ONCE THE RICHEST city on earth - the glittering capital of the Achaemenid Empire. At the heart of the city lay the royal palace - a wonder of gold and silver, ivory, and precious stones. From there, Xerxes planned his war against Greece - and the treasure of a vast empire piled up in the store-rooms. In 330 BCE, Persepolis was captured by Alexander the Great. Before he left the city, he ordered the palace burned to the ground - whether through drunken malice or sober calculation, it is impossible to be sure. Today, the haunting, spectacular ruins of Persepolis reveal both the glory of the Achaemenid Empire, and the abruptness of its passing. The palace is still marked by Alexander’s fire: three feet of ash covered the floor in some places when it was first excavat ... Read more »

JUST NORTH OF KASHAN, IN the small town of Nushabad, Iran (also spelled Noosh Abad), lies a sprawling underground city. Despite its impressive scale, the ancient buried shelter was completely unknown until a decade ago, when an oblivious resident stumbled upon a tunnel while digging a sewage ditch in his home. What was discovered was an extensive, 1,500-year-old underground city, set between 3 to 18 meters (10 to 60 feet) deep. The labyrinthine network was comprised of three stories of tunnels, chambers, air ducts, staircases, canals, and booby traps. It’s considered a marvel of ancient architecture and engineering. Construction of this man-made subterranean city, called Ouee (or Ouyi), dates back to the Sasanian (or Neo-Persian) Empire that ruled from 224 to 651. Inhabitants would dig underground chambers as hideout spots for women, children, and the elderly in the event of an atta ... Read more »