Hall, gallery, or porch open to the air on one or more sides.
It evolved in the Mediterranean region as an open sitting room with protection from the sun. It is often a roofed, arcaded open gallery on an upper story overlooking a court, though it can also be a separate arcaded or colonnaded structure. In medieval and Renaissance Italy, it was often used in conjunction with a public square, as in Florence's Loggia dei Lanzi (begun 1376).