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Persepolis - Tripylon or Council Hall
Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius.
The Tripylon ("triple gate") of Persepolis can be found between the Apadana and the Hall of hundred columns. This suggests that it was built after the completion of these two buildings, but this is no more than a speculation. Other scholars argue for an earlier date. However this may be, the building consists of a central room with approaches to the north (to the Apadana), east (Hall of hundred columns) and south (palace of Xerxes and "palace D").
Several scholars argue that the central hall was in fact a gathering room. They call it the Council hall. Others stress that it is a corridor between three buildings and call it a Tripylon.

The three gates are decorated. On the first picture to the right, we see the king with attendants, leaving to the south; here we see him sitting on his throne, attended by the crown prince.
Both representations are well-known (parallels in a/o in the Palace of Xerxes and the Hall of hundred columns).

This is the northern part of the eastern gate, leading to the Hall of hundred columns. On top, we see Ahuramazda, the most important god in the Iranian pantheon.
Again, the Persian supreme god.
A relief showing Ahuramazda. This picture shows the high quality of the decoration.
One of the capitals of the four columns in the central hall. It shows a man's head with a bull's body. These mythological beings are called lamassu's and originated in Babylonia and Assyria. The Persians adopted them and we can see them in Persepolis in the Gate of all nations. The general idea behind lamassu's is that they warded off evil; therefore, they are usually placed in a gate. This might suggest that the Tripylon was a gate too (and not a Council Hall), but these lamassu's served as capitals, which is unusual (and to the best of the present author's knowledge, unique).
To the north of the building is a flight of stairs, decorated with guardsmen. The Tripylon / Council Hall is to the left. If you descend the stairs, you're close to the Eastern stairs of the Apadana.
This is the interior decoration of the stairs.

A satellite photo can be found here.
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