Alfiz

A projecting rectangular frame that surrounds an arch, usually a horseshoe arch, in the Islamic architecture of al-Andalus and the Maghreb. The alfiz accentuates the line of the arch and encloses a field often filled with epigraphic or vegetal ornament. A recurring feature of the portals at the Great Mosque of Cordoba, it structures the facades of Moorish palaces now converted into hospitality establishments and frames their ceremonial entrances.