Introduction to Susa Apadana Palace
The Apadana Palace of Susa with its remarkable Persian-Greek architecture was built by order of Darius the Great, King of the Achaemenid Empire, with an area of 10,434 square meters. Architectural experts believe that the palace was built as a pavilion-like mansion consisting of three porches with several columns located in the northern, western, and eastern parts.
The Architecture of Apadana Palace
This mansion is made up of different parts, including a public bar hall, harem, gate, reception palace, and three central courtyards. The walls of the inner part of the palace are made of glazed bricks. These bricks are decorated by the artists of ancient Persia with the motifs of the Eternal Corps, the winged lion, and the lotus flower. Remains of these tiles are now kept in domestic museums and some museums in foreign countries.
Susa Apadana Palace Halls
Apadana Palace complex has many rooms and halls. Currently, only 110 rooms and halls have been discovered by archaeologists. The palace consists of 6 courtyards; 3 large courtyards had been built around the east and west axes. These courtyards are located inside the Apadana Palace and are connected to the north by a large corridor. 3 smaller courtyards have also been built in the northern part of this Palace.
The lighting and ventilation of the rooms and various buildings of the palace were provided by the space in the courtyards. In the central part, there is a hall known as the Central Hall, which seems to have 36 columns with a height of over 20. The architects of this beautiful palace also built the columns of the palace in the form of cows. The porches of this historical monument consist of two rows of columns, the number of which is 6 each. The presence of a platform on which Apadana Palace seems to be built is one of the admirable points of this complex.
Comparison Between Apadana Palace of Susa and Persepolis
The palaces built in the Persepolis complex are located on a 12-hectare stone platform known as the foothills of Mount Rahmat. It is worth mentioning that paving such a part has been a very difficult and heavy task. Canalization on such a rock is very exhausting and it is considered the art and mastery of the architects of this historical monument.
This is while in the Apadana palace of Susa, there is no natural plate like the Persepolis complex and the designers of this palace have used an artificial platform that shows the masterpiece of architectural art during the Achaemenid rule. Architects and archaeologists have estimated the dimensions of this artificial plateau to be approximately equal to the dimensions of the rock of the Persepolis complex. Babylonian engineers used raw clay in a thousand-year-old way to build the Apadana Palace, which took a lot of time to build.