round arches
Half-circle stone spans
Round arches are arches with a semicircular curve, the oldest and simplest arch form in Western architecture.
They distribute weight evenly and appear throughout Roman and Romanesque building: The aqueduct's round arches have stood for two millennia.
Distinguished from pointed Gothic arches, which came later and allow greater height.
- KeystonePennsylvania's informal name
- Roman architectureAncient imperial building style
- ancient RomeEarly Italian empire city
- load bearingCarrying structural weight
- Byzantine architectureEastern empire construction tradition
Renaissance architecture · Islamic architecture · springer · grand entrance · Harmony · aqueduct · barrel vault · vaulted ceiling