Iwan

Great Mosque of Esfahan, View of the north iwan from the courtyard

An iwan (Persian: إيوان eyvān) is defined as a vaulted hall or space, walled on three sides, with one end open. Iwans were a trademark of the Sassanid architecture of Persia. They then found their way into Islamic architecture.

Typically, iwans open on to a central courtyard, and have been used in both public and residential architecture.

Iwan Media

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  Multiple iwans and tiled domes of the 16th-century Persian-style Mir-i-Arab madrasa, Bukhara, Uzbekistan

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  View of iwan at Hatra (present-day Iraq)

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  Taq-i Kisra, Ctesiphon, Iran, c. 540

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  The Taj Mahal in Agra, India (17th century), uses iwans for both entrances and decorative features.

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  The courtyard of the Great Mosque of Isfahan, one of the earliest and most prominent uses of the four-iwan plan in mosque architecture, introduced in the early 12th century

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  The iwan of the Palace of Ardashir

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  Iwans in the Friday Mosque of Ardestan, Iran, added in 12th century by the Seljuks

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  Iwan in the Al-Firdaws Madrasa in Aleppo, Syria, built by the Ayyubids in the 13th century