Riad (architecture)
A riad or riyad (Arabic: رياض, romanized: riyāḍ) is a type of garden courtyard historically associated with house and palace architecture in the Maghreb and al-Andalus.
[3][5] The term "riad" is nowadays often used in Morocco to refer to a hotel or guesthouse-style accommodation with shared common areas and private rooms, often within a restored traditional mansion.
[10]: 69–70 In addition to the existing influences of Greco-Roman culture in the Mediterranean, the formation of the Islamic world after the 7th century also spread and established these architectural models across the region and all the way to al-Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula.
[14][15][13] The earliest known example of a true riad garden (with a symmetrical four-part division) in Morocco was found in the Almoravid palace built by Ali ibn Yusuf in Marrakesh in the early 12th century, which was part of the older Ksar al-Hajjar fortress.
[11]: 358–359 It was particularly successful and common in Marrakesh, where the combination of climate and available space made it well-suited to the architecture of the bourgeois mansions and royal palaces built in the city.
[17] Riad gardens were major elements of later Moroccan royal palaces, although sometimes in a form slightly different or more complex than the classic four-part division.
[19]: 268 [20]) The Saadian palace built by al-Mansur in the Agdal Gardens, replaced by modern structures today, also had a symmetrical riad-style courtyard layout.
[10]: 283–284 [23]: 483 [11]: 397 Riads became more common in Fes only in recent centuries, as the existing architectural fabric and the sloped landscape of the city lent themselves less easily to large gardens.
This inward focus was expressed with a centrally placed interior garden or courtyard, and the lack of large windows on the exterior walls of rammed earth or mud brick.
[6] This interest has led to a wave of renovations in towns such as Marrakesh, Essaouira, and Fes, where many of these often-crumbling houses have been restored and converted to hotels, guesthouses, or restaurants.
