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Photo: درفش کاویانی (Kaviani flag), CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
It was a prosperous city under the Sasanian Empire and briefly served as its capital from 224 to 226 CE. Nowadays there is almost nothing left except for scattered around ancient columns.
Istakhr was an ancient city in Fars province, 5 kilometres (3 mi) north of Persepolis in southwestern Iran. It flourished as the capital of the Persian Frataraka governors and Kings of Persis from the third century BC to the early 3rd century AD. It reached its apex under the Sasanian Empire, and was the hometown of the Sasanian dynasty. Istakhr briefly served as the first capital of the Sasanian Empire from 224 to 226 AD and then as principal city, region, and religious centre of the Sasanian province of Pars.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
An ancient necropolis with a group of ancient Iranian rock reliefs cut into the cliff, from both the Achaemenid and Sassanid periods. If you get in, you can read the explanation boards. Photos of the rocks can be taken from outside. Close-by located Ka'ba-ye Zartosht (meaning the "Cube of Zoroaster") is a 5th century BCE Achaemenid square tower.
The site of four limestone rockface inscriptions and rock-cut bas-reliefs that date to the early Sassanid era. It is rather small.