Dictionary of islamic architecture

See also:
Córdoba, Granada, Seville, Spain
Further reading:
G.Goodwill, 
Islamic Spain,
Architectural Guides for
Travellers, London 1990, 131–7.
zawiya
Literally ‘a corner’: often the place where a holy man
both lived and was buried.
zigara
Mausoleum (literally ‘place of visitation’).
zilij
North African term for glazed tiles, usually applied
to tile mosaics used for dadoes in houses and
mosques. Predominant colours are orange, green and
white.
ziyada
Outer enclosure or extension of mosque common to
congregational mosques in the early Islamic period.
The name is derived from an Arabic term meaning
an addition or increase in size. The best surviving
examples of ziyadas can be found in Samarra at the
Great Mosque (847) and the Abu Dulaf Mosque
(861) and also at the mosque of Ibn Tulun in Cairo.
The earliest example is at the Great Mosque at
Samarra where an outer enclosure surrounds the
mosque on the east, north and west sides (i.e. not
on the qibla side). This enclosure is surrounded by
an even larger rectangle which encloses all four
sides of the mosque although the south side is
narrower than the other sides. The area covered by
the mosque and its ziyadas amounts to 17 hectares.
Likewise the mosque of Abu Dulaf which copies
the Great Mosque in many ways also has two
ziyadas or enclosures.
The mosque of Ibn Tulun provides the best-
preserved example of a ziyada. Like the mosques at
Samarra the ziyada encloses the mosque on the three
sides away from the qibla. The enclosure wall
resembles that of the mosque itself with its niches
and crenellations. Each wall is pierced with several
doorways which led from adjoining markets.
Although no remains have been traced, four
historical sources imply that latrines and places for
ablution were located within the ziyada.
The origin of the ziyada is likely to have been the
outer 
temenos
of pre-Islamic shrines or sanctuar-ies
where the temple was separated from the secular city
by an outer enclosure. Ziyadas are not usually found
on the qibla side of a mosque as this position was
reserved for the Dar al-Imara.