Apadana

Apadana is an old Persian word meaning " palace ", cf Sanskrit apa - DHA, "Hide, Lock ," Greek pharmacy-only. In a narrower sense, it refers to a free-standing representational, usually with square pillars Hall ( Throne Hall ) and with one or more lobbies. A Apadana stands in ancient Persian palace districts. One of the oldest examples of this concept was found in the palace of Darius I at Susa.

The Apadana in Persepolis

Especially famous is a portico of Persepolis, the residence of the ancient Persian Empire of the Achaemenids in southern Iran. You can apply with their hundreds of relief as one of the ancient wonders of the world and served as a reception or audience hall of the ruler. This can be seen, inter alia, details of the reliefs of the Apadana staircases on which the kings and their subjects are shown. Next door is the similarly magnificent century portico.

The Apadana had when it was built 2500 years ago a covered space of 3600 m² and 36 richly decorated, 20 m high columns, of which 331 BC by the army of Alexander the Great have remained only a few residues in the destruction. Until the partial restoration in the 20th century only one column was obtained. The others were used for the construction of surrounding villages, especially after the conquest by the Arabs in the 7th century.

The conquest by the Arabs was at 640 under Umar ibn al - Khattab, the second Caliph of Islam from 634 to 644 At that time also the nearby town Istachr and residence of the Sassanids, where many stones of Persepolis were built, destroyed.

Since the Arab geographers the importance of the half-ruined Apadana was unknown, they called the place later Masdjed Chehel Minar -e- ( " Mosque of the 40 minarets ").

The world famous stone reliefs were the main reason for UNESCO to take this place in 1990 in the list of world cultural heritage.

1971 a part of the celebrations of the 2,500 - year anniversary of the Iranian monarchy was held in Persepolis.

Other meanings of the term Apadana

  • Apadana refers to a collection of biographies that were created on Buddhist Holy (Live of Arhants ).
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