The iconic tomb of Cyrus the Great is the most recognisable monument at Pasargadae — a simple gabled stone chamber set on six stepped platforms, rising to a total height of 11 metres. The massive limestone blocks were held together without mortar, using iron and lead clamps in the Achaemenid manner. It has survived over 2,500 years of earthquakes, invasions, and weather.
Classical sources describe how the tomb was once surrounded by gardens and tended by dedicated priests. Alexander the Great reportedly found the tomb looted when he arrived and ordered it restored. A later Arabic inscription on the structure led locals to call it the "Tomb of the Mother of Solomon" for centuries, until its true identity was established by modern scholars.