Riwaq (arcade)

{{short description|Islamic architectural feature}}

{{more footnotes|date=April 2019}}

File:M.Ali Mosque6.JPG in Cairo]]

{{Arab culture}}

A riwaq (or rivaq, {{langx|ar|رواق}} {{transliterate|ar|riwāq}} or {{transliterate|ar|ruwāq}}{{cite book |last=Seresser |first=Naoum B. |title=Mesopotamian Arabic: A Guide for Students in the Modern Arabic Language as Spoken in Mesopotamia |date=1918 |publisher=Thacker and Company |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_yIZAAAAYAAJ |quote=Gallery ... ruwāq; dihlīz. {{lang|ar|رواق . دهليز}}}}) is an arcade or portico (if in front of entrances) open on at least one side.{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Riwaq |encyclopedia=Archnet.org Dictionary of Islamic Architecture |url=http://archnet.org/library/dictionary/entry.jsp?entry_id=DIA0825 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229045231/http://archnet.org/library/dictionary/entry.jsp?entry_id=DIA0825 |archive-date=29 February 2012 |url-status=dead}} It is an architectural design element in Islamic architecture and Islamic garden design.{{cite book |archive-date=2022-03-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326171949/https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20384461 |date=1968 |first=Hans |isbn=3-520-19402-3 |last=Koepf |location=Stuttgart |oclc=20384461 |publisher=A. Kröner |title=Bildwörterbuch der Architektur |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/20384461}}

A riwaq often serves as the transition space between interior and outdoor spaces. As portico or arcade structure, it provides shade and adjustment to sunlight in hot climates, and cover from rain in any locale.