A blind arcade or blank arcade
[ is an arcade (a series of ]arch
An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it.
Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...
es) that has no actual openings and that is applied to the surface of a wall as a decorative element: i.e., the arches are not windows or openings but are part of the masonry face. It is designed as an ornamental architectural element and has no load-bearing function.
Similar structures
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 column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member. ...
s in between its arches.
A blind arcade may resemble several s (false/blank windows or sealed-up windows)
Examples
Blind arcades are a common decorative features on the facades of Romanesque and Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
buildings throughout Western Europe, and are also a common feature in Byzantine Orthodox churches
Orthodox Church may refer to:
* Eastern Orthodox Church
* Oriental Orthodox Churches
* Orthodox Presbyterian Church
* Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand
* State church of the Roman Empire
* True Orthodox church
See also
* Orthodox (di ...
in Eastern Europe, and in Armenian churches.
See also
* Dwarf gallery
* Flying butress
The flying buttress (''arc-boutant'', arch buttress) is a specific form of buttress composed of an arch that extends from the upper portion of a wall to a pier of great mass, in order to convey lateral forces to the ground that are necessary to pu ...
Image:Camposanto Pisa 100.JPG, Camposanto Monumentale,
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
, Italy
Image:Canton Viaduct.jpg, Canton Viaduct,
Canton, Massachusetts
Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,370 at the 2020 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of downtown Boston.
Hist ...
Image:CordobaMezquita01.jpg, Córdoba, Spain
Image:Blind arcade, Norwich Cathedral.jpg, Norwich Cathedral, Norfolk, United Kingdom
Image:Absida maior Colexiata de Sar.JPG, Apse interior of Church of Santa María a Real do Sar
The Church of Santa María a Real do Sar ( Galician: ''Igrexa de Santa María a Real do Sar'') is a church located in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. It was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultural
A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the her ...
,
Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Image:Canterbury Cathedral 11 norman arcade.jpg, Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...
, England
Image:SevillaTorreDelOro10.JPG, Torre del Oro
The Torre del Oro ( ar, بُرْج الذَّهَب, burj aḏẖ-ḏẖahab, lit=Tower of Gold) is a dodecagonal military watchtower in Seville, southern Spain. It was erected by the Almohad Caliphate in order to control access to Seville via th ...
,
Seville, Spain
Image:Apse Santi Pietro Paolo d'Agrò.jpg, Apse exterior of Norman church of Santi Pietro e Paolo d'Agrò
Santi Pietro e Paolo d’Agrò is a church in Casalvecchio Siculo, in the Metropolitan City of Messina on Sicily (Italy). It is one of the foremost examples on Sicily of Norman architecture.
History
The church was constructed during the 12th centu ...
,
Casalvecchio Siculo
Casalvecchio Siculo ( Sicilian: ''Casalvecchiu Sìculu'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about southwest of Messina.
Main sights
*Church of ' ...
, Sicily
Image:Blindarkad.jpg, Linköping Cathedral
Linköping Cathedral ( sv, Linköpings domkyrka) is an active Lutheran church in the Swedish city of Linköping, the episcopal seat of the Diocese of Linköping in the Church of Sweden. One of the largest Gothic cathedrals in Europe, it is situat ...
, Sweden
Image:Firenze9523.jpg, San Miniato al Monte,
Florence, Italy
Image:Ukraine-Lviv-Armenian_Church-16.jpg, Armenian church,
Lviv, Ukraine
File:MosqueeKairouan 1.jpg, Great Mosque of Kairouan (Mosque of Uqba), Tunisia
File:Ardmore Cathedral West Gable Reliefs 2015 09 15.jpg, Blind arcade on Ardmore Cathedral Ardmore comes from the ga, Ard Mór or the gd, Àird Mhòr meaning "great height" and may refer to:
Places Canada
*Ardmore, Alberta
*Ardmore, a neighbourhood in North Saanich, British Columbia
*Ardmore Beach, a community in Tiny, Ontario
Repub ...
, Ireland, with sculpted Biblical scenes (12th century)
References
External links
* Dictionary of French Architecture from the 11th to 16th century/Volume 1/Blind Arcade
''The Monasery of Marmashen''
Arcades (architecture)
{{architecture-stub