View source for Riad (architecture)

{{Short description|Type of interior garden or house}}
[[File:Large riad Bahia 1321.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|A riad garden in the [[Bahia Palace]] of [[Marrakesh]], built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries]]
A '''riad''' or '''''riyad''''' ({{langx|ar|رياض|riyāḍ}}) is a type of garden [[courtyard]] historically associated with house and palace architecture in the [[Maghreb]] and [[al-Andalus]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Ruggles |first=D. Fairchild |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=848k_veh0IkC&pg=PA226 |title=Islamic Gardens and Landscapes |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2008 |isbn=9780812207286 |location= |pages=226 |language=en |quote=''riyad'' – (Maghreb) an interior courtyard garden}}</ref><ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Petersen |first=Andrew |url=https://www.archnet.org/collections/126 |title=Dictionary of Islamic Architecture |publisher=Routledge |year=1996 |isbn=9781134613663 |location= |pages= |language=en |chapter=riad |quote=North African term for a walled garden.}}</ref><ref name=":023">{{Cite book |last=Marçais |first=Georges |title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident |publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques |year=1954 |isbn= |location=Paris |pages=404 and others |language=fr}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Wilbaux |first=Quentin |title=La médina de Marrakech: Formation des espaces urbains d'une ancienne capitale du Maroc |publisher=L'Harmattan |year=2001 |isbn=2747523888 |location=Paris |pages=57–60, 69–75 |language=fr}}</ref> Its classic form is a rectangular garden divided into four quadrants by two paved paths intersecting in the center, where a fountain is typically situated. The planted areas are usually sunken below the level of the paths.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":023" /> Its origin is generally attributed to traditional [[Persian gardens]] whose influence spread during the [[History of Islam|Islamic period]].<ref name=":023" /><ref name=":6" /> 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 [[Historic house architecture in Morocco|traditional mansion]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Accommodation in Morocco {{!}} Where to stay in Morocco|url=https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/africa/morocco/accommodation/|website=Rough Guides|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Sleeping in Morocco|url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/morocco/a/nar/9fd5c53e-0fe7-40bf-bc49-3efdd8ba2203/355491|author=Lonely Planet|website=Lonely Planet|language=en|access-date=2020-05-31}}</ref>

==Etymology==
{{Arab culture}}
The term ''riad'' comes from the [[Arabic]] term for "gardens": {{Lang|ar|رياض}} ({{Transliteration|ar|riyāḍ}}), the plural of {{Lang|ar|روضة}} ({{Transliteration|ar|rawḍa}}).<ref name=":24">{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=un4WcfEASZwC |title=The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780195309911 |editor-last=Bloom |editor-first=Jonathan M. |volume=2 |location= |pages=87–88 |language=en |chapter=Garden |editor-last2=Blair |editor-first2=Sheila S.}}</ref><ref>Blaser, Werner. (2004). ''Courtyards in Marrakech''. Basel, Switzerland: Publishers for Architecture.</ref> Historically, the term referred to a type of interior garden common to historic [[Moorish architecture]] in Al-Andalus ([[Iberian Peninsula]]) and [[North Africa]]. In particular, it referred to rectangular courtyard garden that is symmetrically divided into four parts along its central axes and typically has a fountain at its middle.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Wilbaux |first=Quentin |title=La médina de Marrakech: Formation des espaces urbains d'une ancienne capitale du Maroc |publisher=L'Harmattan |year=2001 |isbn=2747523888 |location=Paris}}</ref>{{Rp|57}}<ref name=":24" />

== History ==
Riad architecture ultimately has ancient roots in [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] and [[Middle East]]ern domestic architecture.<ref name=":0" /> Houses centered around inner courtyards existed across the ancient [[Greco-Roman world]] and, before that, in the [[Ancient Near East|ancient Middle East]]. Interior gardens are also an ancient feature of domestic architecture in the Middle East, and the geometrically arranged gardens of [[Islamic architecture]] derive from [[History of Iran|Iranian civilization]] in particular.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|69}}<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|404}}<ref name=":6">{{Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|volume=1|title=Būstān|last1=Naficy|first1=Said|last2=Marçais|first2=Georges|last3=Bazmee Ansari|first3=A. S.|author-link2=Georges Marçais}}</ref> Archaeological remains of similar gardens have been found in and around ancient [[Mesopotamia]], and the later evolution of such gardens can be found in the grand geometrically-arranged gardens of [[Iranian architecture|Iranian]] and [[Mughal architecture]], known as a ''[[Charbagh|chahar bagh]]''.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|69–70}} In addition to the existing influences of Greco-Roman culture in the Mediterranean, the formation of the [[Muslim world|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]]. Interior gardens were a popular feature of palace architecture in the Islamic world because water and greenery were associated with images of [[Jannah|paradise]] in Islam.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=65–66, 69–70}}<ref name=":6" />

[[File:Alhambra (080).jpg|thumb|left| Interior garden in the [[Generalife]] of the [[Alhambra]], in [[Granada]], a variation of the riad element in Muslim palace architecture of the region]]
Scholars generally attribute the origins of riad gardens in the western Islamic world to its antecedents in the eastern Persian world.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|404}}<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":0" />{{Rp|page=69}} Important examples of riads, or riad-like gardens, in al-Andalus are found at [[Medina Azahara|Madinat al-Zahra]] (10th century), the [[Aljafería|Aljaferia]] (11th century), the Castillejo of Monteagudo (near [[Murcia]], 12th century) and the [[Alhambra]] (13th-15th centuries).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Marçais |first=Georges |title=L'architecture musulmane d'Occident |publisher=Arts et métiers graphiques |year=1954 |location=Paris |language=fr}}</ref><ref name=":6" /> However, it is unclear to what extent Moroccan riads and houses were inspired by models imported by immigrants from al-Andalus or to what extent they developed locally in parallel with Andalusi versions.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|66–67}}<ref name=":9" />{{Rp|77–89}} What is certain, however, is that there was historically a close cultural and geopolitical relationship between the two lands on either side of the [[Strait of Gibraltar]].<ref name=":2" />{{Rp|13}}<ref name=":9" />{{Rp|77–89}} 

When the [[Almoravid dynasty|Almoravids]] (who were based in Morocco) conquered al-Andalus in the 11th century they commissioned Muslim, Christian and Jewish artisans from al-Andalus to work on monuments in Morocco and throughout their empire, further contributing to a shared architectural and artistic heritage between al-Andalus and North Africa.<ref>Parker, R. (1981). ''A Practical Guide to Islamic Monuments in Morocco''. Charlottesville, Virginia: Baraka Press. p.14</ref><ref name=":14">{{Cite book|last=Salmon|first=Xavier|title=Maroc Almoravide et Almohade: Architecture et décors au temps des conquérants, 1055-1269|publisher=LienArt|year=2018|isbn=|location=Paris|pages=}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Bloom|first=Jonathan M.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IRHbDwAAQBAJ&q=Architecture+of+the+Islamic+West%3A+North+Africa+and+the+Iberian+Peninsula&pg=PP1|title=Architecture of the Islamic West: North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, 700-1800|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2020|isbn=9780300218701|location=|pages=}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|71}}<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|404}} The era of the Almoravids and their successor dynasties (such as the [[Almohad Caliphate|Almohads]], the [[Marinid Sultanate|Marinids]], and the [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrids]]) was a formative period of [[Moroccan architecture]] and of wider Moorish architecture during which the model of the riad garden was perfected and established as a standard feature of interior secular or palace architecture in the region.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|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.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|72–73}}

Although little remains of the [[Hafsid]]-era palaces in Tunisia, a contemporary description of the Ras al-Tabya palace – near the present-day [[Bardo National Museum (Tunis)|Bardo]] in [[Tunis]]<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Kubisch |first=Natasha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=huOBwihhwyQC |title=Islam: Art and Architecture |publisher=h.f.ullmann |year=2011 |isbn=9783848003808 |editor-last=Hattstein |editor-first=Markus |location= |pages=319 |language=en |chapter=The Maghreb: From Morocco to Tunisia; Architecture |editor-last2=Delius |editor-first2=Peter}}</ref> – from the second half of the 15th century indicates that it had a large cruciform garden with a central fountain, four water features and four pavilions arranged in cross-formation, thus similar to riad palaces elsewhere, including the later [[Badi Palace]] in Marrakesh.<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|page=312}} In [[Tlemcen]], Algeria, the [[Kingdom of Tlemcen|Zayyanid]]-era [[Mechouar Palace]] was described as featuring enclosed gardens, although nothing of these has survived to the present day.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Charpentier |first=Agnès |title=Tlemcen médiévale: urbanisme, architecture et arts |publisher=Éditions de Boccard |year=2018 |isbn=9782701805252 |pages=138–139 |language=fr}}</ref>

[[File:Palais El Badi (50036382823).jpg|thumb|The [[El Badi Palace|Badi Palace]] in [[Marrakesh]], a riad-style palace on a grand scale, built in the late 16th century by [[Saadi Sultanate|Saadian]] sultan [[Ahmad al-Mansur]]]]
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. The Badi Palace in Marrakesh, a lavish reception palace built by the [[Saadi Sultanate|Saadian]] sultan [[Ahmad al-Mansur]] in the late 16th century, was essentially a giant rectangular riad courtyard, with symmetrical gardens, pools, and two monumental pavilions facing each other at either end.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Meunier|first=Jean|date=1957|title=Le grand Riad du palais du Badi'|url=http://www.hesperis-tamuda.com/fr/index.php/archives/archives-1959-1950/132-hesperis-tamuda-1957|journal=Hespéris|volume=44|pages=129–134|via=|access-date=2021-02-04|archive-date=2021-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228031528/http://www.hesperis-tamuda.com/fr/index.php/archives/archives-1959-1950/132-hesperis-tamuda-1957|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Salmon|first=Xavier|title=Marrakech: Splendeurs saadiennes: 1550-1650|publisher=LienArt|year=2016|isbn=9782359061826|location=Paris}}</ref> (The presence of two pavilions in this manner was also reminiscent of the layout of the much smaller [[Court of the Lions]] in the [[Alhambra]].<ref name=":3" />{{Rp|268}}<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Barrucand|first=Marianne|date=1989|title=The Sadi Qasaba of Marrakech|url=https://archnet.org/sites/1742/publications/3224|journal=Environmental Design: Journal of the Islamic Environmental Design Research Centre|volume=|pages=18–27|via=}}</ref>) The Saadian palace built by al-Mansur in the [[Agdal Gardens]], replaced by modern structures today, also had a symmetrical riad-style courtyard layout.<ref name=":03">{{Cite journal|last1=Navarro|first1=Julio|last2=Garrido|first2=Fidel|last3=Almela|first3=Íñigo|date=2017|title=The Agdal of Marrakesh (Twelfth to Twentieth Centuries): An Agricultural Space for Caliphs and Sultans. Part 1: History|url=|journal=Muqarnas|volume=34|issue=1|pages=23–42|doi=10.1163/22118993_03401P003}}</ref><ref name=":022">{{Cite journal|last1=Navarro|first1=Julio|last2=Garrido|first2=Fidel|last3=Almela|first3=Íñigo|date=2018|title=The Agdal of Marrakesh (Twelfth to Twentieth Centuries): An Agricultural Space for Caliphs and Sultans. Part II: Hydraulics, Architecture, and Agriculture|url=|journal=Muqarnas|volume=35|issue=1|pages=1–64|doi=10.1163/22118993_03501P003|s2cid=116253890}}</ref> The largest riad garden in Marrakesh today is the Arsat an-Nil ("Garden of the Nile") located in the [[Kasbah of Marrakesh|Royal Palace]] and dating from the reign of the [[Alaouite dynasty|Alaouite]] sultan [[Mohammed ben Abdallah|Muhammad Ibn Abdallah]] (1757–1790). Measuring around 130 meters on its north–south axis and 70 meters on its east–west axis, it is divided along its middle by a path from north to south which in turn is intersected by several other perpendicular paths, forming a vast, elongated version of a riad.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|283–284}}<ref name=":22">{{Cite book|last=Deverdun|first=Gaston|title=Marrakech: Des origines à 1912|publisher=Éditions Techniques Nord-Africaines|year=1959|location=Rabat}}</ref>{{Rp|483}}<ref name=":02" />{{Rp|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.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|75}}<ref name=":9">{{Cite book|last1=Revault|first1=Jacques|title=Palais et demeures de Fès. Vol I: Époques mérinde et saadienne (XIVe-XVIIe siècles)|last2=Golvin|first2=Lucien|last3=Amahan|first3=Ali|publisher=Éditions du Centre national de la recherche scientifique|year=1985|isbn=|location=|pages=}}</ref> The late 19th-century [[Dar Batha]] palace (now a museum) in Fes is a large and clear example of a classic riad.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|last=Mezzine|first=Mohamed|date=|title=Batha Palace|url=http://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;ma;Mon01;22;en|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=February 4, 2020|website=Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers}}</ref>

== In Moroccan domestic architecture ==
{{Main|Historic house architecture in Morocco}}
[[File:Fez (47846977132).jpg|thumb|A restored house in riad-style in [[Fez, Morocco|Fez]]]]

The riad is one of two main types of traditional Moroccan houses, often with two or more stories around an interior symmetrical garden centered around a fountain.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=55–58}} Riads were the stately city homes of the wealthiest citizens such as merchants and courtiers who were able to build mansions which included interior gardens.<ref name="WilbauxLebrun2008">{{cite book |last1=Wilbaux |first1=Quentin |last2=Lebrun |first2=Michel |last3=McElhearn |first3=Kirk |title=Marrakesh: The Secret of Courtyard Houses |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CpdO5eaQpWUC&pg=PA380 |year=2008 |page=380 |publisher=ACR |isbn=978-2-86770-130-6}}</ref><ref>Messier, Ronald A. (2010) ''The Almoravids and the Meanings of Jihad''. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. p.126</ref> The style of these riads has changed over the years, but the basic form is still used in designs today.

In many cases, especially for palaces, the gardens were surrounded by a [[peristyle]] gallery.<ref name=":02" /> Moroccan houses were inward focused, which allowed for family privacy and protection from the weather. 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. This design principle also found support in the social mores of Islamic society, which placed great value on privacy and encouraged a separation between private family spaces (where women notably lived and worked) and semi-public spaces where outside guests were received.<ref name=":0" />{{Rp|pages=67–68}} The central gardens of traditional riads were often planted with fruit trees such as orange trees or lemon trees. The walls of the riads could be adorned with [[tadelakt]] plaster, [[stucco]] decoration, and ''[[zellij]]'' tiles, sometimes with [[Islamic calligraphy|Arabic calligraphy]] and quotes from the [[Quran]].<ref name="WilbauxLebrun2008" /><ref name="ListriRey2005">{{cite book |last1=Listri |first1=Massimo |last2=Rey|first2=Daniel |title=Marrakech: Living on the Edge of the Desert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dEBEF6F9r_8C&pg=PA28 |year=2005 |publisher=Images Publishing |isbn=978-1-86470-152-4 |pages=16–71, 88–103, 138–145, 176–181}}. The book provides photographs of several of the most elegantly-restored Marrakech Riads.</ref>

==Tourism==
[[File:Riad du Figuier courtyard - Essaouira 188.jpg|thumb|Courtyard of a riad guesthouse in [[Essaouira]] (''Riad du Figuier'')|alt=]]
In recent years there has been a surge of interest in using traditional Moroccan houses as part of the country's tourism industry. In this context, the term ''riad'' has become a common term to denote traditional Moroccan houses in general, particularly those converted into tourist accommodation.<ref name=":1" /> 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.<ref name="ListriRey2005" /><ref name=":1" /> Many of the crumbling or ruined properties in Marrakech have been bought by foreigners. This foreign interest has brought new challenges but the investment has helped with the restoration of the UNESCO site and has helped revive many of the handcrafts and artisan trades that were gradually being lost before this trend.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The sustainability of Urban Heritage Preservation: The case of Marrakech|last = Gigio|first = Anthony|publisher = Inter-American Development Bank|year = 2010|url = http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTCHD/Resources/430063-1287519198659/Marrakesh.pdf}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Andalusian patio]]
*[[Courtyard house]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book |last=Navarro Palazón |first=Julio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tNYKEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA176 |title=The Archaeology of Medieval Europe, Vol. 2: Twelfth to Sixteenth Centuries |last2=Jiménez Castillo |first2=Pedro |date= |publisher=Aarhus Universitetsforlag |year=2011 |isbn=978-87-7124-426-7 |editor-last=Klápste |editor-first=Jan |language=en |chapter=Southerners: House and Garden in Al-Andalus}}
* {{Cite book |last=Ruggles |first=D. Fairchild |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=848k_veh0IkC |title=Islamic Gardens and Landscapes |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2011 |isbn=9780812207286 |location= |pages= |language=en}}

== External links ==
* {{Commons category-inline|Riads in Morocco}}

{{Islamic architecture}}
{{Hotel}}

[[Category:House types]]
[[Category:Arabic architecture]]
[[Category:Architecture in Morocco]]
[[Category:House styles]]
[[Category:Islamic architectural elements]]
[[Category:Islamic architecture]]
[[Category:Moorish architecture]]