Iwan

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

An iwan (Persian: ایوان, eyvān, also romanized as ivan or ivān/īvān, Arabic: إيوان, ’īwān)[1][2][3] is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called pishtaq, a Persian term for a portal projecting from the facade of a building, usually decorated with calligraphy bands, glazed tilework, and geometric designs.[4][5] Since the definition allows for some interpretation, the overall forms and characteristics can vary greatly in terms of scale, material, or decoration.

Iwans are most commonly associated with Islamic architecture; however, the form is pre-Islamic Iranian in origin and was invented much earlier and fully developed in Mesopotamia around the third century CE, during the Parthian period.

  1. ^ Wright (1992), p. 508
  2. ^ Boas (2010), p. 366
  3. ^ "Eyvan". azerdict.com (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  4. ^ Dictionary of Islamic architecture: Pishtaq Archived 2011-06-29 at the Wayback Machine archnet.org.
  5. ^ Pishtaq Britannica.com.

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