A child dressed in a Santa Claus costume reacts, on the day Palestinian Christians attend an Orthodox Christmas Mass at the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City on January 7, 2025. (Photo by Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)

Few people haven’t heard about the ancient city of Persepolis, which lies at the foot of the Mountain of Mercy (Kuh-I-Rahmat). In ancient times, Persepolis was the capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Regretfully, it was burned by the Greeks in 330 BC after they looted the immense treasure of this city. It is said that Greeks needed 5,000 camels and 20,000 mules to carry all the treasures from Persepolis. The only thing of Persepolis that has survived the wear of time is the ginormous stone terrace 530 by 330 meters adorned by elaborate stone sculptures. It is amazing how intricately detailed some of the sculptures are, despite the fact that they were created many centuries ago.

An African immigrant tries to jump a fence into a ferry terminal in the western Greek town of Patras April 28, 2015. Afghan, Iranian and Sudanese immigrants, living precariously in abandoned factories in Patras, southwest Greece, try to stow away on nearby ferries to Italy as they seek a better life in Europe beyond crisis-hit Greece. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)

Janus, a two-headed Greek turtle named after the Roman god with two heads is testing a kind of skateboard to rehabilitate one day ahead of her 25th birthday at the Natural History Museum in Geneva on September 2, 2022. (Photo by Pierre Albouy/Reuters)

A riot policeman punches Greek photojournalist Tatiana Bolari during a demonstration in Athens' Syntagma (Constitution) square October 5, 2011. Police officers attacked several members of the press covering protests, injuring at least two members of the media. (Photo by Yannis Behrakis/Reuters)

Female activists perform a choreography originated in Chile, and inspired by the Chilean feminist group Las Tesis, to protest against gender violence and patriarchy in front of the Greek parliament at Athens' Syntagma Square on December 22, 2019. (Photo by Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP Photo)

These hilarious images show dogs enjoying a day out exploring New York’s most iconic tourist hotspots Photographer Mark McQueen captured the canines hanging out near landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge, on 5th Avenue and Times Square. Here: Take my picture! Apartment dogs in the East Village are always happy to be out for a walk. (Photo by Mark McQueen/Caters News Agency)

An airplane house is pictured in the village of Miziara, northern Lebanon May 12, 2015. Miziara prides itself on building residential homes that resemble ancient Greek temples and Egyptian ruins, one is even built in the shape of an Airbus A380. (Photo by Aziz Taher/Reuters)