The Apadana Palace of Susa is located in the city of the same name (Khuzestan Province) and was the winter palace of the Achaemenid kings and the main palace of Darius I, built around 515-521 BC on monuments and remains from the Elamite era.
The other names for this building, constructed of stone, cedar wood, and rough bricks, are the Palace of Darius and the Palace of Susa; the walls are adobe on the inside with a brick façade and stone pillars.
The interior walls were covered with enameled brick and images of the Immortals (elite units of the imperial guard of the Great Persian King), a winged lion, and the blue bellflower.
This building had several sections, such as: the audience hall, the harem (a section reserved for women and children), the entrance door, the building where guests were welcomed, more than 110 rooms, and even six courtyards (three central inner courtyards) covered with red bricks. The important parts of this palace at the time of Artaxerxes I (461 BC) suffered a fire and were rebuilt during the reign of Artaxerxes II (359 BC).
This building, like the other Achaemenid buildings, was completely destroyed during Alexander the Great's unexpected attack. What remains, such as the columns, capitals, winged lion, necklaces and bracelets made of gold and turquoise, terracotta and enamel tableware, etc., are kept in foreign museums—such as the Louvre in Paris—and in local museums.
