The Masone Labyrinth (Labirinto della Masone) of Franco Maria Ricci in Fontanellato, Italy, is 7 hectares (17 acres), making it the largest labyrinth in the world. Will you ever escape its tunnels of green gloom?
The star-shaped Masone Maze is based on a Roman labyrinth style, with right angles divided into quarters and with a single path, however Ricci has cunningly added some extra little traps to turn it into a true maze, like blind alleys and additional junctions along the 3 kilometres (3280 yards) of internal paths. The maze is grown from bamboo, which Ricci fell in love with back in 1980s, and there are more than 20 different species planted throughout the park. It’s a perfect plant for a maze, being quick growing to the maximum pruned height of 5 metres (nearly 17 feet), evergreen, pest and disease free and a great absorber of carbon dioxide. Many of the bamboos featuring in the Masone gardens are from​ the Bambouseraie d’Anduze in France. There are 120,000 bamboo plants in the maze from a variety of species, including Phyllostachys viridiglaucescens, Phyllostachys pubescens (syn. Phyllostachys edulis), Phyllostachys viridis ‘Sulfurea’, Phyllostachys bissetii, Hibanoubambusa tranquillans ‘Shiroshima’, Pleioblastus viridistriatus and Pleioblastus pumilus.

variety of tones.

You can't escape...

Inspited by the great labyrinths...