☰Audience Hall of Cyrus

Also called the Apadana of Cyrus, this was the public ceremonial hall where Cyrus received dignitaries. What remains are a few standing columns with their distinctive double-bull capitals, scattered bases, and sections of black and white limestone that once made up the colonnaded porticoes. One doorjamb preserves the carved figure of a four-winged guardian genius, with traces of the trilingual inscription "I, Cyrus the King, the Achaemenid." The inscription itself is long gone, but the figure endures. The architectural details — Ionic column bases, Urartian-influenced capitals — show how deliberately Cyrus drew on the traditions of all the peoples he had conquered.