Pasargadae was Cyrus the Great's capital city, but now it is a desolate and windswept place. The structures aren't well preserved like in Persepolis, and the only major structure that is standing there is the tomb, which is a focal point of the place.
The pictures you see above depict the Tomb of Cyrus, which stands right in front of the site entrance. It is austere and majestic, and perhaps is the only remnant here showing how great the previous palace was in its zenith. When I was younger, I learned a lot about Cyrus the Great, mostly from a religious and Biblical perspective, since he is featured in the Bible as the deliverer of the Jews, the king who freed the Jews from Babylonian captivity. Now that I have widened my horizons beyond what the Bible teaches, I am also seeing him as a historical figure, who did way more things than just deliver the Jews, as after all, he was the one who founded the Achaemenid Empire and ruled the area from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River.
The remaining pictures I have above show you the remnants of other palaces in the area. As you can see, there's plenty left to the imagination. But if you are someone who appreciates historical value of archaeological sites, then this one is a good place to visit. When I was there, what amazed me was that all of these historical figures who I only encountered either in a Biblical context (Darius I will appear later in this trip) or in History classes in school are now suddenly becoming real, as I am visiting their graves, and treading the land they once dominated.
