Persepolis (Takht-e Jamshid or Chehel Minar, UniPers: Taxte Jam�?id) was the ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire during the Achaemenid dynasty. Persepolis is situated 70 km northeast of the modern city of Shiraz in the Fars Province of modern Iran. In contemporary Persian, the site is known as Takht-e Jamshid (Throne of Jamshid) and Parseh. The earliest remains of Persepolis date from around 515 BC. To the ancient Persians, the city was known as P?�rsa, which means "The City of Persians". Persepolis is the Greek interpretation of the name ?????�???�?? ?????????? (Pers??s polis: "Persian city"). The UNESCO declared the citadel of Persepolis a World Heritage Site in 1979. Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest remains of Persepolis date from around 515 BC. Andr?? Godard, the French archaeologist who excavated Persepolis in the early 1930s, believed that Cyrus the Great chose the site of Persepolis, but that Darius the Great built the terrace and the great palaces. Darius ordered the construction of the Apadana Palace and the Council Hall (the Tripylon or three-gated hall), the main imperial Treasury and its surroundings. These were completed during the reign of his son, King Xerxes the Great. Further construction of the buildings on the terrace continued until the downfall of the Achaemenid dynasty.