formerly the capital of Persia, situated in N. Lat. 30° 30' E. Long. 84°; now in ruins, but remarkable for the most magnificent remains of a palace or temple that are to be found throughout the world.—This city stood in one of the finest plains in Persia, being 18 or 19 leagues in length, and in some places two, in some four, and in others six leagues in breadth. It is watered by the great river Araxes, now Bendemit, and by a multitude of rivulets besides. Within the compass of this plain, there are between 1000 and 1500 villages, without reckoning those in the mountains, all adorned with pleasant gardens, and planted with shady trees. The entrance of this plain on the west side has received as much grandeur from nature, as the city it covers could do from industry or art. It consists of a range of mountains steep and high, four leagues in length, and about two miles broad, forming two flat banks, with a rising terrace in the middle, the summit of which is perfectly plain and even, all of native rock. In this there are such openings, and the terraces are so fine and so even, that one would be tempted to think the whole the work of art, if the great extent, and prodigious elevation thereof, did not convince one that it is a wonder too great for ought but nature to produce. Undoubtedly these banks were the very place where the advanced guards from Persepolis took post, and from which Alexander found it so difficult to dislodge them. One cannot from hence descry the ruins of the city, because the banks are too high to be overlooked; but one can perceive on every side the ruins of walls and of edifices, which heretofore adorned the range of mountains of which we are speaking. On the west and on the north, this city is defended in the like like manner: so that, considering the height and evenness of these banks, one may safely say, with a late ingenious traveller, that there is not in the world a place so fortified by nature. The ancient palace of the kings of Persia, called by the inhabitants Chilminar, i.e. forty columns, is situated at the foot of the mountain; the walls of this stately building are still standing on three sides: but as a particular account of the noble remains of antiquity to be met with there would exceed our limits, we must refer the reader to Sir John Chardin's travels, or the fifth volume of the Universal History, where a full description of them is given.