Pasargadae - Iran

Iran has 24 unesco sites and I only have cards from 6 of them. I've got this one from Pasargadae thanks to Stefanie. 

Pasargadae was the first dynastic capital of the Achaemenid Empire, founded by Cyrus II the Great, in Pars, homeland of the Persians, in the 6th century BC. Its palaces, gardens and the mausoleum of Cyrus are outstanding examples of the first phase of royal Achaemenid art and architecture and exceptional testimonies of Persian civilization. (...) Pasargadae was the capital of the first great multicultural empire in Western Asia. Spanning the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt to the Hindus River, it is considered to be the first empire that respected the cultural diversity of its different peoples. This was reflected in Achaemenid architecture, a synthetic representation of different cultures. - in: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1106

Cyrus was the founder of the Achaemenid Dynasty (c. 550-330 BC), which became the world’s largest empire before it was eclipsed by that of Alexander the Great.

As the “father of the Iranian nation,” Cyrus II of Persia, known as Cyrus the Elder by the Greeks, was the first world leader to be given the epithet “the Great,” due to his conquering the Median, Lydian, and Neo-Babylonian empires.

The tomb was discovered by Alexander the Great in the late 4th century B.C. when he had conquered the Persian Empire.

The tomb is believed to be the oldest base-isolated structure and also one of the first earthquake-protected structures in the world.

Although the city of Pasargadae is now in ruins, the burial place of Cyrus the Great has remained largely intact and today it is an archaeological site listed as a UNESCO heritage site to help protect such an influential part of Iranian history. - in: https://www.thevintagenews.com