The screen of pillars surrounding a temple, forming colonnades along its sides.

These colonnades are found on the exterior of buildings; such as, in the classical Greek temple, and also within the courtyard of a Hellenistic or Roman house.

A peristyle court is a court with a roof around the sides supported by rows of columns and an open space in the center. The peristyle of the domus, typified by that of the "House of the Vettii" at Pompeii, which contained the private living quarters of the family.

Clustered around its colonnaded court were the oecus, "reception room"; cubiculai, "bedrooms"; alae, "recesses for private talk"; and tricliniai, "dining rooms".