2000 - 1500 BC
In Egypt during the 19th century BC, pharaoh Amenemhet III built a huge palace complex in the form of a labyrinth. Records show that the palace was situated on a great lake, seven days travel up the Nile from the pyramids.
In Greek mythology, the Minotaur lived within the Cretan Labyrinth, and was finally killed by Theseus. Whatever the truth of this myth, it is a fact that the 7-ring Cretan labyrinth design was used on Cretan coins in the 1st century BC.
100 AD
In Roman times, the labyrinth motif continued and was used in mosaic pavements throughout the Roman Empire. These mosaics usually depicted the Greek myth of the Minotaur, or Theseus slaying the Minotaur.
800AD
In Scandinavia over 600 stone labyrinths line the shores of the Baltic Sea. Many of the labyrinths remain to this day and even up until the early 20th century, fishermen would walk the labyrinths before putting to sea in the hope of a good catch and a safe return.
600AD - 1100AD
In Britain, Nordic settlers may have laid out labyrinths in their settlements to remind them of their origins. Lacking stones, they used turf and created designs using the classical labyrinth style.
1200AD
In thirteenth century France, Medieval Christian pavement mazes were laid in the stone floors of gothic cathedrals to reflect the recent journeys of the Crusades. The Medieval Christian maze design was cruciform and had 13 rings of paths. In walking or kneeling along its path, one could contemplate the tenuous thread of time, and the path of life through death to salvation.
1400AD
As formal gardens began to be established throughout Europe, puzzle hedge mazes started to become popular among kings and princes. The trend for these mazes, which were only to be found in the wealthiest of palaces, probably started during the Italian Renaissance where there was an attempt to recreate the classical gardens in the style of Imperial Rome.
1800AD
In the nineteenth century, the wealth of the Industrial Revolution provided the first stirrings of a leisure industry, and many new hedge mazes were built in parks and other places, for general public amusement. Wealthy private families also added mazes to their gardens.
1900AD
In the first half of the twentieth century, two world wars forced gardens to be neglected, and many mazes were irretrievably lost. However, with the increase of mass leisure, travel and tourism since the 1970's, a new enthusiasm has been created for mazes. As a result, more mazes are being built today than at any time in their history.
2000AD
During the late 1900’s new mazes have appeared throughout Europe, North America, Australasia and the Far East. In Japan alone, some 200 were built during the 1980's. In Britain, there are now over 125 mazes open to the public, compared with 42 in 1980. One distinctive aspect of British mazes is their diversity, with possibly the widest range of forms of maze of any country in the world. At Plantasia you’ll find seven mazes from different countries around the world.