# Liwan

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Liwan
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Liwan.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liwan
> Source revision: 1317893417
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Hall in Arabic houses}}
{{other uses|Liwan District}}
[[File:Liwan.PNG|thumb|right|350px|An architectural drawing of a typical [Levant](/source/Levant)ine house, with the liwan area in grey.<ref>Based on discussion in Victor A. Khoueiry, "Lebanese Domestic Vernacular," ''Architecture Week,'' March 6, 2002.</ref>]]
'''Liwan''' ({{langx|ar|ليوان}}, {{transliteration|ar|līwān}}, from [Persian](/source/Persian_language) {{transliteration|fa|eyvān}}) is a long narrow-fronted [hall](/source/hall) or [vaulted](/source/Vault_(architecture)) [portal](/source/Portal_(architecture)) in ancient and modern [Levant](/source/Levant)ine homes that is often open to the outside.<ref name=Abercrombiep266>Abercrombie, 1910, p. 266.</ref><ref name=Daveyp29>Davey, 1993, p. 29.</ref> An Arabic [loanword](/source/loanword) to English, it is ultimately derived from the [Persian](/source/Persian_language) {{Transliteration|fa|eyvān}}, which preceded by the article ''al'' ("the"), came to be said as {{Transliteration|ar|līwān}} in Arabic, and later, English.<ref name=Houstmap218>Houtsma et al., 1993, p. 218.</ref>

In its simplest form, the history of the liwan dates back more than 2,000 years, when the '''liwan house''' was essentially a covered [terrace](/source/Terrace_(building)), supported by [retaining wall](/source/retaining_wall)s, with a [courtyard](/source/courtyard) in front.<ref name=Khoueiry>{{cite web|title=Lebanese Domestic Vernacular|author=Victor A. Khoueiry|date=6 March 2002|access-date=2007-12-14|url=http://www.architectureweek.com/2002/0306/culture_1-2.html }}</ref>

In its more complex forms, the liwan house is composed of a large ceremonial entrance hall (liwan) at the front of the complex, divided into three sections, and flanked by two smaller liwans.<ref name=Daveyp29/> The back of the house opens onto a columned [peristyle](/source/peristyle) courtyard from which the main room and the private apartments opposite can be accessed, with [symmetry](/source/symmetry) on either side of the central axis.<ref name=Daveyp29/>

Mats and carpets are typically spread along the length of the floor of the liwan, and the mattresses and cushions along the length of the walls make up the ''diwan'' or [divan](/source/Divan_(furniture)) seating area.<ref name=AbuSalihp32>Abu Salih et al., 2002, p. 32.</ref>

==Types of liwan houses==

===Three-arched house or Central Hall House===
One type of liwan house is the three-arched house or "Central Hall House", as coined by Friedrich Ragette in 1974.<ref name=GRAL>{{cite web|title=Research Group on the Architecture of the Levant|author=Groupe de recherche sur l'architecture au Levant (GRAL)|publisher=European Association for Middle Eastern Studies (EURAMES)|date=1998-09-19|access-date=2007-12-14|url=http://www.smi.uib.no/eurames/gral.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930153031/http://www.smi.uib.no/eurames/gral.html|archive-date=2011-09-30|url-status=dead}}</ref> It is also known as the "traditional house" or "Late-[Ottoman](/source/Ottoman_empire) [Arab](/source/Arab) House" in [Haifa](/source/Haifa) or the "[Beirut](/source/Beirut)i House" in [Mersin](/source/Mersin).<ref name=GRAL/>

The 19th-century Levantine model of the three-arched house with many regional variations is found in the coastal regions of [Lebanon](/source/Lebanon), [Syria](/source/Syria), [Palestine](/source/Palestine_(region)), and [Turkey](/source/Turkey).<ref name=GRAL/> A representative example of the liwan house commonly found in towns throughout the [West Bank](/source/West_Bank) and [Gaza](/source/Gaza_Strip) is the Al Imam house in [Hebron](/source/Hebron).<ref name=Hadid>{{cite web|title=Establishing, Adoption, and Implementation of Energy Codes for Building: Architectural Styles Survey in Palestinian Territories|author=Mouhannad Hadid, Architect|date=August 2002|access-date=2007-12-14|url=http://www.molg.gov.ps/ecb/studies/architecture/arch.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509043538/http://www.molg.gov.ps/ecb/studies/architecture/arch.pdf|archive-date=2006-05-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Architecture|Lebanon}}
*{{annotated link|Iwan}}
*{{annotated link|Hosh (architecture)}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation|title=The Churches and Monasteries of Egypt and Some Neighbouring Countries|last1=Abu Salih the Armenian|first2=B.T.A|last2=Evetts|first3=Alfred Joshua|last3=Butler|first4=Ahmad|last4=bn Alī Magrīzī|year=2002|publisher=Gorgias Press LLC|isbn=0-9715986-7-3 |author1-link=Abu Salih the Armenian }}
*{{citation|title=The Town Planning Review|first1=Sir Patrick|last1=Abercrombie|publisher=[Liverpool University Press](/source/Liverpool_University_Press)|year=1910}}
*{{citation|title=Northern Cyprus: A Traveler's Guide|first=Eileen|last=Davey|year=1993|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=1-85043-747-5}}
*{{citation|title=E.J. Brill's First Encyclopaedia of Islam, 1913-1936|first1=Martijn Theodoor|last1=Houtsma|first2=T.W.|last2=Arnold|first3=A.J.|last3=Wensinck|publisher=BRILL|year=1993|isbn=9789004097964}}
{{refend}}
{{Islamic architecture}}

Category:Islamic architecture
Category:Islamic architectural elements
Category:Arabic architecture
Category:Ottoman architecture
Category:House types
Category:Architecture in Syria
Category:Architecture in Palestine
Category:Architecture in Lebanon

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Liwan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liwan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liwan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.