article_snippet: The 'city of Persians,' which lays at the foot of the Kuh-i-Ramat mountains, was once the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire .
article_snippet: The Greeks burned a lot of the ancient city of Babylon in Iraq to the ground when The Greeks invaded in 330 under the leadership of Alexander the Great .
article_snippet: Persepolis, or 'the city of Persians,' dates back to 515 BC when it was once the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empirethe Achaemenid Empire.
article_snippet: All that remains today is that which was not burned by The Greeks in 330 under the leadership of Alexander the Great.
article_snippet: Babylon dates back 4,000  years when Babylon was then the capital of 10 dynasties in Mesopotamia .
article_snippet: Today, Babylon walls and mythical hanging gardens are considered to be one of the Seven Ancient World Wonders .
article_snippet: Founded 4,000 years ago, Babylon was the capital of 10 dynasties in MesopotamiaMesopotamia, and Babylon walls and mythic hanging gardens are considered to be one of the world's original Seven Wonders.
article_snippet: Also believed to be the birthplace of writing and literature, due to unrest in the region in recent years, Babylon has not drawn as many visitors as expected from the far reaches of the globe.
article_snippet: Babylon is located 85km south of Baghdad and is accessible only after going through several security checkpoints.
article_snippet: Where once stood towering gates and a bustling market city packed with traders, now only remains remnants of Babylon's walls and a 2,500-year-old statue of a lion.
article_snippet: The in-tact buildings at Babylon are mainly ill-advised attempts by former dictator Saddam Hussein who tried to reconstruct monuments 'to glorify Iraq' and rebuilt the Nebuchadnezzar II palace on top of the original's ruins.
article_snippet: Babylon is famous for Babylon opulent architecture, which was carved into the region's red sandstone rock .
article_snippet: Ideally situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, Babylon was once an important crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia.