The modern city of Hamadan in central Iran. It was the capital of the Medes and became the summer residence of the Achaemenids. Herodotus described the city as being ringed with seven concentric walls, the battlements of which were coated with gold and silver and various colours, but this account was probably not meant to be taken literally. Recent and ongoing excavation is beginning to produce the first archaeological evidence of its ancient splendour.