In
Hellenistic Greek and
Roman architecture a
peristyle (; from
Greek περίστυλος) is a
columned porch or open
colonnade in a
building surrounding a
court which contains an internal
garden.
Tetrastoon (from Greek τετράστῳον, "four arcades") is another name for this feature. In the Christian ecclesiastical architecture that developed from Roman precedents, a
basilica, such as Old St Peter's in Rome, would stand behind a peristyle forecourt that sheltered it from the street. In time the
cloister developed from the peristyle.