Sunset over the columns of Apadana Palace in Persepolis. The palace square hall was 60 meters (200 ft) wide with seventy-two columns, 13 of which still stand on the platform, each 19 metres (62 ft) high. Persepolis is a 2500-year old World Heritage Site of ancient Persian palaces and temples near Shiraz in southern Iran. It was the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire during the Achaemenid dynasty. At the height of its power, the Achaemenid Empire encompassed about 7.7 million square kilometers and spanned three continents, as far west as Libya to nearly all Middle East, and to Central Asia.