Shiraz is the capital of Fars province, the cradle of Persian civilisation, where Persians or Farsis first settled. It is a city of learning, poetry, nightingales and flowers that was of great importance in the medieval Islamic world. Two of Iran's greatest poets are buried in Shiraz: Hafez (14th century) and Sa'adi (13th century) and one can visit their mausoleums. Other sights include the Vakil and Jameh (Friday) mosques, the delightful Eram and Naranjestan gardens, the Pars Museum and Khan theological college.

60km north east of Shiraz lies Persepolis or Takhte-Jamshid , the city founded by the Achmaenian king Darius the Great in 512 BC and completed by his succesor Xerxes. While most of the city was destroyed when Alexander the Great set fire to Persepolis in 331 BC, the ruins still evoke the power and splendour of the Persian Empire at its height, an empire which stretched from India in the East to the Mediterranean in the west. Many giant stone pillars, stairs and portals remain as well as magnificent sculptures and bas-reliefs.

Naghshe-Rostam is located about 6km north of Persepolis. Hewn out of the rock on the mountain face are the tombs of the Achamenid kings Darius I, Artaxerxes, Xerxes I and Darius II. Below them are huge Sassanian bas reliefs (224-637 AD). Pasargadae is the site of the tomb of Cyrus the Great founder of the Persian Empire, a huge square mausoleum twelve metres high.