palas

thumb|Palas of the Wartburg, courtyard side thumb|Palas of the Kaiserpfalz Goslar thumb|The Münzenberg palas at Münzenberg Castle A palas () is a German term for the imposing or prestigious building of a medieval Pfalz or castle that contained the great hall. Such buildings appeared during the Romanesque period (11th to 13th century) and, according to Thompson, are "peculiar to German castles".

Thanks to 19th-century studies of castles ("castle science"), the term palas is often used as a generic term used for covered halls in castles; however, the architectural and historical use of the term is restricted by other authors to the Romanesque hall building.