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
Atrium (architecture) incorporating an atrium is that it typically creates unused vertical space which could otherwise be occupied by additional floors. In a "domus", a large house in Ancient Roman architecture, the "atrium" was the open central court with enclosed rooms on all sides. In the middle of the atrium was the "impluvium", a shallow pool sunken into the floor to catch rainwater from the roof. Some surviving examples are beautifully decorated. The opening in the ceiling above the pool ("compluvium") called for some means of support for the roof, and it is here where one differentiates between five different styles of