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How did the Roman arch influence Spain's architecture?

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1. Some consider the arch to be the greatest contribution to any architecture. An arch is a curved structure capable of spanning a space while supporting significant weight (e.g. a doorway in a stone wall). The arch was first developed in the Indus Valley civilization circa 2500 BC and subsequently in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Assyria, Etruria, and later refined in Ancient Rome. The arch became an important technique in cathedral building and is still used today in some modern structures such as bridges. But the ancient Romans were the first to use them widely above ground although it is thought that Romans learned it from the Etruscans. The so-called Roman arch is semicircular, and built from an odd number of arch bricks (called voussoirs). The capstone or keystone is the topmost stone in the arch. This shape is the simplest to build, but not the strongest. There is a tendency for the sides to bulge outwards, which must be counteracted by an added weight of masonry to push them inwards. The semicircular arch can be flattened to make an elliptical arch. The Arch was used in Spanish Visigothic architecture, Islamic architecture and mudéjar architecture, as in the Great Mosque of Damascus and in later Moorish buildings. It was used for decoration rather than for strength. T he arch was especially important to the construction of the great systems of aqueducts by the ancient Romans. These consisted of long series of arches, a much more economical mode of construction than, say, a continuous wall of support. I hope that helps.