Frontispiece (architecture)

In architecture, a frontispiece is the combination of elements that frame and decorate the main, or front, door to a building. The term is especially used when the main entrance is the chief face of the building rather than being kept behind columns or a portico. Early German churches often employed frontispieces to hide the aisles and nave. In Kentucky, the frontispieces of Georgian buildings characteristically feature a lunette above the door and colonettes on either side. In Chiapas, frontispieces are typically elongated.