The Arabic word which is transliterated into English as “riad” or “riyadh” originally signified a garden or courtyard/ enclosed garden/patio of the formal, Islamic, so-called “paradise garden” type.
In current common usage “riad” (in Morocco, especially) is the word for a house/guesthouse/building in which its heart is such an open-aired but otherwise fully enclosed patio/courtyard.
Most such riads were originally the houses of wealthy merchants, built within the walls of a city’s “medina” – what is now its “old”/“walled” city.
The pictured example is surely one of the most exquisite.
The photo shows part of the actual riad within a “riad” that was built more than 600 years ago, in Fez. (aka “Fes”).
In recent years it has been superbly restored.
As is true of many of Morocco’s “original” riads – and some modern variations – it is now a guesthouse/boutique hotel.
A future multi-image post will show and tell a deal more about this particular riad, and riads in general.