Corps de logis is the architectural term which refers to the principal block of a large, usually classical, mansion or palace. It contains the principal rooms, state apartments and an entry. The grandest and finest rooms are often on the first floor above the ground level: this floor is the piano nobile.
The corps de logis is usually flanked by lower secondary wings. When the secondary wings form a three sided courtyard, the courtyard is known as the Cour d'Honneur.
Examples of a corps de logis can be found in many of the most notable Classical Era buildings of Europe including the Palace of Versailles, Blenheim Palace and the Palazzo Pitti.
In France, the principal block of medieval castles and manor houses is often referred to as the corps de logis.
Famous quotes containing the word corps:
“The Washington press corps thinks that Julie Nixon Eisenhower is the only member of the Nixon Administration who has any credibility—and, as one journalist put it, this is not to say that anyone believes what she is saying but simply that people believe she believes what she is saying ... it is almost as if she is the only woman in America over the age of twenty who still thinks her father is exactly what she thought he was when she was six.”
—Nora Ephron (b. 1941)