With the beginning of summer and a little more free time on my hands, I decided to attempt a sort of Summer Journal Series for my blog. (Incidentally, if you have any ideas for blog musings for the fall, please leave a comment! I am happily open to suggestions! :))
Anyway, many of my readers seemed to like the virtual travels I did last year, so I decided to kick the series off with virtually travelling to three extreme mazes around the world!
Labirinto della Masone
In the fascinating world of Labyrinths and mazes, the Labyrinth della Masone stands out as the world’s largest Labyrinth, and is made from bamboo! The website (https://www.labirintodifrancomariaricci.it/en/labirinto-masone/home-en/) includes history of the maze and its buildings as well as beautiful pictures of the buildings at the maze.
From an arial view, the maze looks like a giant star with a square shape imbedded in the centre. From a ground view, the pathways of the maze are lined with bamboo, leaning inwards in places as if to create a sort of archway. The effect of the bamboo closing in looks magical!
(Photos from: https://www.labirintodifrancomariaricci.it/en/labirinto-masone/labyrinth/#section4)
The Pineapple Garden Maze
Not only does one get to wander their way around inside a giant pineapple with this next maze, but there are also eight “secret stations” that lead visitors to the botanical garden at the centre of this maze! I absolutely love this maze, simply because, as the name implies, it is shaped like a Pineapple.
This maze is also the largest maze in the world! (Not to be confused with the largest labyrinth in the world – Labyrinth della Masone.) At this point, you may – as I was – be questioning what the different between a maze and a labyrinth is. I was surprised to discover that a labyrinth is simply a path that you follow. It can be windy, but does not leave the possibility open to becoming lost. Whereas while in a maze, one can find themselves lost in all the pathways and dead ends.
Detouring just a little sidestep, as I was researching what the difference is between a labyrinth and a maze, I came across some other interesting little facts about mazes and labyrinths. Below are a couple of fun maze definitions I came across!
“Bottleneck – A passage connecting one area of a maze to another, and that must be traversed in order to solve the maze. Every solution to the maze must go through the bottleneck.”
“Vortex – Three or more passageways that spiral into each other, to a central junction, where one must then choose a passageway leading back out. Vortices are disorienting because it is difficult to predict in what direction a passageway leading out will ultimately lead. Multiple vortices linked together can be particularly confusing to navigate.”
(Quotes from aMAZEing Art, http://amazeingart.com/maze-faqs/maze-terms.html)
Labyrinth of Villa Pisani
(Photo from https://www.dreamstime.com/photos-images/villa-pisani-labyrinth.html)
I then found myself exploring the Villa Pisani National Museum and its maze within its garden. The large garden includes part of Brenta river and is decorated with beautiful statues.
The labyrinth itself is formed from beautiful lush green hedges and looks as if it were straight out of a fairy tale. Its square shape is inhabited by a circular shape in the centre, in which lies a single tower structure at the heart of the maze, with a spiral staircase leading to the top of the tower.
Every maze and labyrinth has a fascinated story associated/behind it, but an interesting little legend about the Labyrinth of Villa Pisani is that supposedly Hitler and Mussolini would not even attempt to complete the difficult labyrinth; and Napoleon tried to finish it, but could not find his way through. (Information courtesy of https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/villa-pisani-labirinto)
I hope that someday we will all get to visit these fascinating mazes and labyrinths in person; but for the time being, it was a pleasure to share my virtual exploration of these amazing places with you.
Ready for more adventures!
Until next time! <3
PS Find the secret word hidden in this blog post! There will be a new word for each Summer Journal Series.
Hint: First letter. 1, 2, 5, 7, 12, 14
Comment if you figure out the word! 🙂