Ancient Persepolis

The Ruins of Persepolis lie at the foot of Kuh-i Rahmat (Mountain of Mercy) in the plain of Marv Dasht about 400 miles south of present capital city of Teheran. The exact date of the founding of Persepolis isn't known; it is assumed Darius I worked on platform & structures between 518 and 516 B.C. It was burned to the ground when Alexander the Great conquered and looted persepolis in 330 B.C., he carried the treasures on 20,000 mules and 5,000 camels, according to Plutarch. It wasn't until 1260 A.D., when the site was 1st identified, it laid buried under its own ruins (University Of Chicago).
Many people travel to Persepolis and the ruins of its Achaemenid Palaces. Scholarly and scientifically planned work started in 1931, when Ernst Herzfeld, Professor of Oriental Archaeology in Berlin, was commissioned by James H. Breasted, Director of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, to start "an exploration, excavation and, if possible, restoration of the remains of Persepolis," (University Of Chicago). From 1931-1934, Herzfeld, and his assistant, Fritz Krefter found the Persepolis Terrace with the Eastern Stairway of the Apadana and the small stairs of the Council Hall. In 1934, Krefter left the job and Erich F. Schmidt took control of the job. For the next 5 years, until 1939, he continued the search of the Persepolis complex. But in 1939, World War II broke out in Europe, which put an end to his exploration in Iran (University Of Chicago).