Moroccan riad Moroccan riad A riad () is a type of traditional Moroccan house or palace with an interior garden or courtyard. The word riad originates from the Arabian term for garden, , ryad. The ancient Roman city of Volubilis provided a reference for the beginnings of riad architecture during the Idrisid Dynasty. When the Almoravids conquered Spain in the 11th century they sent Muslim, Christian and Jewish artisans from Spain to Morocco to work on monuments. The Riad is the Moroccan traditional house, normally with two or more stories around an Andalusian-style courtyard that contained a fountain. Riads were the stately
Courtyard house only in the last couple of centuries has its use been neglected. Recently, more attention has been given to the courtyard house, as a type to solve a number of problems of dense inner city housing. Courtyard houses are also a form of dwelling built in the British Isles late in the Iron Age. They are restricted to the granite peninsula of Land's End and the Isles of Scilly, Wales and other highland areas. Examples are at Chysauster and Carn Euny in Cornwall. Another type of courtyard house was built by the landowners in England in the late Middle Ages