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The courtyard (sahn) of a mosque normally precedes and gives access to the interior prayer hall that stands on the qibla side (the side corresponding to the direction of prayer). [ 7 ] [ 1 ] Most mosque courtyards contained a public fountain where Muslims performed wudu , a ritual ablution (purification) required before prayer . [ 8 ]
A ṣaḥn (Arabic: صحن) is the formal courtyard found in almost every mosque in Islamic architecture. The courtyards are open to the sky and surrounded on all sides by structures with halls and rooms, and often a shaded semi-open arcade riwaq .
Symmetrically-divided courtyard gardens, later known as a riyad (or riad), would go on to become a typical feature of western Islamic architecture in the Maghreb and al-Andalus, including later Andalusi palaces such as the Aljaferia and the Alhambra. [32] [33] [30]
The four-iwan plan (cruciform) is one of the most characteristic floor plans of Islamic architecture, [34] [40] consisting of four iwans arranged around a central square or rectangular courtyard (durqāʿa or ṣaḥn), with the iwans aligned with the central axes of the courtyard.
Courtyard and minaret of Dakhna Grand Mosque in Riyadh, 1952. Mosques are the main place of worship in Islam. Muslims are called to prayer five times a day and participate in prayers together as a community, facing towards the qibla (direction of prayer). Every neighborhood normally had one or many mosques in order to accommodate the spiritual ...
Unlike Islamic architecture further east, western Islamic architecture did not make prominent use of large vaults and domes. [ 2 ] : 11 Even as Muslim rule ended on the Iberian Peninsula, the traditions of Moorish architecture continued in North Africa as well as in the Mudéjar style in Spain, which adapted Moorish techniques and designs for ...
A riad garden in the Bahia Palace of Marrakesh, built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. 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.
The arches and columns of the surrounding portico are arranged in a complex pattern of single columns alternating with groups of two or three columns, a design that was unique in Islamic architecture. [170] Two ornate pavilions stand at the east and west sides of the courtyard, while the centre is occupied by the famed Fountain of the Lions.