peristyle

noun

Etymology: From French péristyle, from Classical Latin peristȳlum, from περίστυλον (perístulon), from περι- (peri-, “around”) + στῦλος (stûlos, “pillar”). peri- + -style.

1. A colonnade surrounding a courtyard, temple, etc., or the yard enclosed by such columns.

   “One cannot, for example, see the Temple of Æsculapius as one stands in the fine open courtyard as it was intended one should do; the interstices on that side of the peristyle have been blocked by Venetian Gothic buildings.”

2. A porch surrounded by columns.
3. A sacred roofed courtyard with a central pillar (the potomitan), used as a space for voodoo ceremonies, either alone or as an adjunct to an enclosed temple or altar-room.

   “The peristyle is a roofed structure, open at the sides, in which most of the ceremonials and dances take place.”

   “Most peristyles in Haiti have hard-packed dirt floors that can soak up libations when they're poured on the ground in honor of the spirits.”