[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
B.ARCH. SEMESTER III
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

539BCE to 651CE

Persia was the mountainous plateau to the east of the lower Tigris-Euphrates Valley.
The Persian empire was larger than the Babylonian and Assyrian empires, extending eastward to GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
India and reaching westward to Greece. VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

• was divided into twenty provinces, or satrapies. Each province was

ruled by a governor called a satrap. The satraps ultimately we’re the
eyes for the king.

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

History: 538 – 331BC Chronological order of Rulers

The Persian Kings were:
Cyrus (538-529 B.C.) Conquered Babylon and allowed Jews to return.

Cambyses (529-522 B.C.) Stopped work on the Temple.

Darius I (521-485 B.C.) Authorized completion of the Temple.

Xerxes (Ahasuerus) (485-465 B.C.) Esther was his Queen.

Artaxerxes I (465-425 B.C.) Authorized Nehemiah to rebuild Jerusalem.

Xerxes II (424 B.C.)

Darius II (423-405 B.C.)
Artaxerxes II (405-358 B.C.)
Artaxerxes III (358-338 B.C.)
Arses (338-335)

Darius III (335-331 B.C.) He was defeated by Alexander the Great (331
B.C.) at the famous battle of Arbela, near Nineveh. This was the fall of Persia and the rise of GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
Greece. VISAKHAPATNAM
 [AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Government
• The Persian government was built upon the Assyrian model. The system was more efficient
and humane.

Govern many different racial groups

- The principles of equal responsibilities and the rights for all people
GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
- Only if the subjects paid their taxes and kept peace VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Armor & Tactics Training Military

The PERSEPOLIS

These life sized "Immortal Guard" in richly

ornamental robes wear the twisted
headband typical of native Iranians from GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
Susa. VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Art
Pottery Metal Craft

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Science and Technology

Qanat
GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Architectural features
• The architecture of Persians was more columnar and that led to vastly different massive
architectural features from that of the Mesopotamian era.
• The use of flat timber roofs rather than vaults led to more slender columns and were
rather more graceful. This also led to rooms being squarer in shape than simple long
rectangle.
• The roofing system was also very different, wherein the wooden brackets were covered in
clay and provided more stability. The use of a double mud wall might have provided
room for windows just below ceiling in structures like Palace of Persepolis.

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

PERSIAN HERITAGE CITIES Pasargadae, Susah & Persepolis VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

CITY 01: PASARGADAE

Comprises of four structures scattered over
a plain, centred round:
 The citadel
Rusticated masonry is a great feature of the platform of the
citadel
 The residential palace
 The sacred precinct
 Tomb of Cyrus

The Site of PARASGADAE

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Tomb of Cyrus

The Site of PARASGADAE

A simple box-like monument of limestone 3.2m x 2.3m (10ft.6in. X 7ft.6in.)
 Gabled stone and standing on a six-step platform
Achaemenian in its use of large stones
 Accurately cut, smoothly dressed, reinforced by swallowtail clamps of iron and lead GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

CITY 02: SUSAH

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Susah
Citadel and palace complex by Darius I
(522-486 BC)
Resources
 Cedar from Lebanon
 Teak from the Zagros mountains and Southern
Persia
 Bricks made by the Babylonian method
 Craftsmen from Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, and
Ionia
glazed-brick decorations

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

CITY 03: PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02
Details:
• 460 x 275m extent
•The buildings at Persepolis are divided into 3
areas,
•Military quarters
•Treasury
•Reception and occasional houses for
King of Kings.
•These include the
•Great Stairway
•Gate of Nations (Xerxes)
•Apadana
•Palace of Darius
•Hall of a Hundred Columns
The PERSEPOLIS
•Tripylon Hall
•Tachara palace of Darius
•Hadish palace of Xerxes
•Palace of Artaxerxes III
•Imperial Treasury, the Royal Stables GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
and the Chariot house. VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

PALACE OF PERSEPOLIS is a Greek Word meaning “ City of Persians”

The initial works were started in 518 BC.
Cyrus the Great chose the site of Persepolis
Darius the Great built the terrace and the great palaces at Persepolis and
the construction of the buildings at the terrace was continued until
downfall of the Achaemenid dynasty.
Darius ordered the construction of Apadana Palace and the Debating hall
(Tripylon or the three-gated hall), the main imperial treasury and its
surroundings, which were completed at the time of the reign of his son
King Xerxes
The palace was completed by ArtaXerxes I
The main characteristic of Persepolitan architecture is its columns. The PERSEPOLIS

They were of wood; only when even the largest cedars of the Lebanon or the teak trees of
India did not fulfill the required sizes did the architects resort to stone.
The bases and the capitals were always of stones, even on wooden shafts, but the
existence of wooden capitals is probable. GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Palace of Persepolis
Wonderful architectural sculptures
 Monumental stairs were lined with reliefs where they are arranged
in; separated by bands of rosettes
Nobles, courtiers, tribute-bearers and guardsmen advanced in
dignified processions, and traditional subjects filled with awkward
angles of the stairways and the deep jamps of the doorways
Stepped battlements crowned the parapat walls
Columns of the lesser apartments had wooden shafts
 Thickly plastered and heavily decorated The PERSEPOLIS

Columns of the Halls were stone throughout

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
 [AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Stepped battlements crowned the parapet walls

Sculptures in brilliant colours
Columns of the apartments had
Wooden shafts
Thickly plastered
Decoratively painted
Columns of the hall was of stone
Bases were moulded
Shafts were fluted
Capitals –vertical ionic like volutes
Twin bulls or dragons supporting the roof beams

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

STAIRWAY

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

GATE OF NATIONS
A gateway by Xerxes had mud brick
walls, faced with polychrome bricks
and front and rear portals guarded
by stone bulls.

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

APADANA: A grand audience hall, begun by Darius, completed by 2 of his successors

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

TRIPYLON
GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

TACHARA PALACE OF DARIUS:

The PERSEPOLIS

The original main entrance, with a large double staircase leading to the terrace,
seen from the south.
12 columns supported the roof of the central hall from which three small stairways
descend
Small in comparison to other structures and well preserved GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

PALACE OF XERXES:

•Built near SW corner

•Connected with the Harem
•An L shaped womens quarter
•Court formed by L shaped harem &
Tripylon
•Court enclosed south of Tripylon

Xerxes' Palace, almost twice as large as that of Darius, shows very similar decorative
features on its stone doorframes and windows, except for two large Xerxes inscriptions on The PERSEPOLIS
the eastern and western doorways.
Instead of showing the king's combat with monsters, these doorways depict servants with
ibexes.
Unfortunately, all the reliefs in this palace are far less well preserved than those of the
Palace of Darius.
GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

TREASURY:
Double-walled administrative and storehouse
building with columned halls of different
sizes and a single doorway

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

HALL OF HUNDRED COLUMNS

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Tomb of Darius
13km (8 miles) north of Persepolis
One of the four rock-hewn sepulchres of the
great Achaemenian kings
The façade
 18.3 m (60ft) wide

 Appears to reproduce the south front of

Darius’s palace at Persepolis
4 collumns of the double-bull type
Central doorway with Egyptian-like cornice
Upper compartment in which an elaborate throne,
2.7m (9ft) high, is supported by two rows of The PERSEPOLIS
figures, above which the king stands

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

The PERSEPOLIS

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Sources:
Blundell, Jones, Cruickshank, Dan, Frampton, Kenneth, Richards,
Fleur, & Saints, Andrew (Eds.). (1996). Sir Banister Fletcher’s A History
of Architecture (2oth ed.). United Kingdoms: Architectural Press.
http://www.beer-studies.com/uploads/media_items/Godin_tepe-site-
Nissen-1988.original.jpg
http://www.iranicaonline.org/uploads/files/Palace_Architecture/palac
earchitect_fig_1.jpg
http://www.iranicaonline.org/uploads/files/Archeology/v2f3a041_f2_
300.jpg
http://www.iranicaonline.org/uploads/files/Pasargadae/pasargadae_fi
g_6.jpg
http://www.historvius.com/images/original/503-Pasargadae-E.jpg
https://s3.amazonaws.com/classconnection/214/flashcards/6349214/j
pg/palace_of_persepolis-14981206C5702CFA89E.jpg
GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
VISAKHAPATNAM
[AAR 203] HISTORY OF WESTERN ARCHITECTURE Unit 02

Sources (cont.):
http://www.messagetoeagle.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/11/unescosusa1.jpg
https://classconnection.s3.amazonaws.com/610/flashcards/899610/jp
g/hall_of_hundred_columns1320531480146.jpg
http://www.livius.org/site/assets/files/2724/thumbnail_buspar_gur-
e_dokhtar_northwest.jpg
http://0.tqn.com/d/ancienthistory/1/S/O/Q/3/Naqsh-e-Rustam_1.jpg
https://s-media-cache-
ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a9/55/08/a955082aa7998967d87b5aa4658789
e1.jpg
http://www.iranicaonline.org/uploads/files/Persepolis/persepolis_fig
_4b.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bd/Darius_I_to
mb_sections.JPG
http://www.farschto.ir/images/shiraz/naksh3g.jpg
GITAM SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
VISAKHAPATNAM