Peristyle architecture
Introduction
Peristyle (from the Latin peristȳlum, and this from the Greek περίστυλος, perístylon, from περί peri, "around" or "surrounded" and στῦλος stylos, "column": "surrounded by columns") is the gallery "Gallery (room)") of columns "Column (architecture)") surrounding a building, or part of it; or the enclosure surrounded by columns ("like the atriums", indicates the DRAE).[1].
Roman peristylum
Although for the DRAE the atrium is an example of a peristyle, in the usual nomenclature of the parts into which the upper-class Roman house is divided (the urban domus, the rural villae and, already in imperial times, the palaces), the name peristylum is reserved for the large interior courtyard, surrounded by porticoes of columns and gardens (viridarium"))[2] or adorned with fountains "Fuente (architecture)") and sculptures, while the walls could be painted with frescoes.
The most important rooms of the residence were located around the peristyle: the exedra, the triclinium (dining room) and the tablinum. It differs from the atrium, the other interior patio typical of Roman houses, and from the one separated by the tablinum, because it is larger, located further away from the entrance and because it is used for social reception and recreation functions; while the atrium, located behind the entrance and the vestibulum, served as a distribution space between the rooms.
The most senior or trusted visitors of the owner of the house were received in the peristyle (they could even be invited to bathe with the owner), while the "Client (Ancient Rome)" clients of lesser importance were dispatched in more external areas, even at the doors of the house (ianua, ostium).
Greece and Hellenism
Pre-Hellenic civilizations have some precedent for the architectural concept of the peristyle, notably the area of the palace of Knossos known as . In addition to the peristasis or peristyle of the peripteran Greek temples (such as the Parthenon itself), the concept of a portico was widely used in Greek architecture and urban planning, with the name ; especially as a delimitation of open spaces, both for religious and civil use (the agora).