A Bit More About the Original Persepolis

The city was built to be the capital of the Persian Empire, but it was so hidden away in the mountains that in practice most business was run from other towns. But symbolically it was the heart of all things Persian. It was also possibly the most opulent settlement the world has ever seen. It was to Persepolis that all subject nations came each Nowrooz (New Year) bearing tributes for the king. The first king actually to sit on the throne was Darius I; his string of successors terminated in 330bc with the assassination of Darius III and the arrival of that arch hooligan, Alexander ‘the Great’, who managed to burn the palace down during a drunken orgy one evening. But all was not lost...the spirit of the place was nurtured by a secret brotherhood down through the centuries until it could be suppressed no more and finally re-emerged as a proud and glorious corner shop in Peckham.