Pasargadae was the first capital of the Persian Empire, built by Cyrus the Great in the middle of the sixth century BC, after he defeated the Medes and the Lydians and made himself master of most of the known world. It stands on a high, open plain in Fars province, at about 1,900 metres, and what survives is spread out across the grassland: the tomb of Cyrus, a gabled stone chamber on a stepped platform; the stone bases of audience halls; a gatehouse with a carved winged figure; and the lines of a garden, the earliest known example of the symmetrical Persian chahar bagh, divided by water channels into four parts.
The tomb is the sight. Made of pale limestone blocks, it rises in six steps to a small room with a gabled roof, simple and austere, and the ancient writers described how Alexander visited and was moved to find that the great king lay in so modest a tomb. The inscription the Greek writers quoted is long gone, but the tomb stands, and the sense of space around it is extraordinary. The British Museum holds the Cyrus Cylinder, a clay record of his policies, found in Babylon, and it is often cited as an early statement of tolerance, though historians debate how to read it.
The riding is easy and open. The road from Shiraz runs north-east for about 130 kilometres across a high plateau, passing Persepolis and the Marvdasht plain, then climbing gently to the site. The surface is good, with long straight stretches and a few bends, and the air is clear and thin. Winters can be cold, with frost and snow, and summers hot and dry, so spring and autumn are best. In April the surrounding fields are green and dotted with poppies.
Pasargad is a town of about thirty thousand people, immediately next to the site, so fuel, food and lodging are no problem. A few small restaurants serve grilled chicken, rice and yoghurt, and you can buy bread and fruit at local shops. Arrive early to avoid the heat and tour buses, and walk the full site, since there is almost no shade. Take water and a hat, and give yourself time to sit by the tomb and let the wind do its work.