An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians.
A blind arcade superimposes arcading against a solid wall.[1] Blind arcades are a feature of Romanesque architecture that was taken into Gothic architecture.
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An arcade often surrounds part or all of a town square in Mediterranean climate cultures, such as in Italian architecture, Spanish architecture, Moorish architecture, Arabic architecture, Colonial architecture; and subsequent Mission Revival style architecture, Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture, and many other original and revival styles around the world.
In Gothic architecture, the arcade can be located in the interior, in the lowest part of the wall of the nave, supporting the triforium and the clerestory in a cathedral, or on the exterior, in which they are usually part of the walkways that surround the courtyard and cloisters.
Modern arcade walkways often include retailers.