Blind arcade

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

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.

The Canton Viaduct is the only known use of a structural Blind Arcade viaduct built in the United States.^{[citation needed]}