Blind arcade

A blind arcade, also called a blank arcade,¹ is an arcade (a series of arches) that lacks actual openings and is applied to the surface of a wall as a decorative element; that is, the arches are not openings, but form part of the masonry façade. It is designed as an ornamental architectural element, without any load-bearing function.

Whereas a blind arch is usually a single arch or a series of joined arches as a frieze (sometimes called Lombard band), a blind arcade is composed of a series of arches that have well-defined columns in between its arches.

A blind arcade may resemble several blind windows (false/blank windows or sealed-up windows)¹ or blind niches that are side by side.

Blind arcades are a common decorative features on the facades of Romanesque and Gothic buildings throughout Western Europe, and are also a common feature in Byzantine Orthodox churches in Eastern Europe, and in Armenian churches.

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  Camposanto Monumentale,
  Pisa, Italy
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  Canton Viaduct,
  Canton, Massachusetts, USA
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  Córdoba, Spain
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  Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk, United Kingdom
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  Apse interior of Church of Santa María a Real do Sar,
  Santiago de Compostela, Spain
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  Canterbury Cathedral, England (interlaced arches)
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  Torre del Oro,
  Seville, Spain
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  Apse exterior of Norman church of Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agrò,
  Casalvecchio Siculo, Sicily
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  Linköping Cathedral, Sweden
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  San Miniato al Monte,
  Florence, Italy
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  Armenian church,
  Lviv, Ukraine
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  Great Mosque of Kairouan (Mosque of Uqba), Tunisia
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  Blind arcade on Ardmore Cathedral, Ireland, with sculpted Biblical scenes (12th century)