Mazes have long captivated adventurers with their intricate designs and the thrill of discovery. Beyond mere amusement, they inspire a spirited competition among creators worldwide, each striving to construct the most elaborate and expansive labyrinths. This quest for grandeur has led to the establishment of remarkable mazes across the globe, each vying for the title of the world’s largest maze and offering enthusiasts unparalleled experiences in navigation and exploration.
Let’s take a trip through the crooked curves of the world’s most amazing mazes to find the largest maze in the world and we’ll also keep our ‘ear’ to the ground in an attempt to discover the location of the world’s biggest corn maze.
Labyrinth or a Maze
Labryinth or maze? (Credit: Martin Barraud via Getty Images)
What’s the difference between a labyrinth and a maze? A labyrinth is what’s known as unicursal, in that it has a single, non-branching path that leads to a central point and back out again. This means there are no choices or dead ends. As long as you keep moving forward, you’ll reach the middle. By contrast, a maze is multicursal, meaning it has multiple paths, including twists, turns, and dead ends, and there’s only one route from the outside to the centre and back again.
What’s in a Name?
It’s thought the word ‘maze’ comes from the thirteenth century Middle English word ‘mæs’ which meant delirium, delusion, or bewilderment!
A Short History of Mazes
Antique photograph of the Park of Versailles (Credit: ilbusca via Getty Images)
The history of labyrinths dates back to ancient Greece where they were originally designed as spiritual journeys, but the most famous labyrinth from antiquity is the famed Cretan Labyrinth, whose centre was said to house the petrifying Minotaur. The ancient Romans also used labyrinth motifs with representations of the Minotaur on buildings, and it was believed to represent protection of property.
However hedge mazes as we recognise them today are a more recent creation. They blossomed during the Renaissance in the grand gardens of Europe and provided entertaining pastimes for the aristocracy and their guests.
Hedge mazes were introduced to England during the reign of King William III in the late 1600s. Around the same time, what may have been the world’s biggest maze was the Labirinthe de Versailles in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles in France. It was commissioned by King Louis XIV and depicted the fables of Aesop. It was replaced in 1778 with an English landscape garden. And perhaps the most famous maze in the world at an historic house today is the stunning example in the gardens of Hampton Court Palace.
So where is the biggest maze in the world? And which is the world’s biggest corn maze. Here are some of the world’s most massive mazes.
Hampton Court Maze, London, England
A small section of the maze at Hampton Court Palace (Credit: AscentXmedia via Getty Images)
While it’s not the world’s largest maze, the trapezoidal-shaped Hampton Court Maze in the grounds of Hampton Court Palace in the London borough of Richmond upon Thames is the oldest surviving hedge maze in the UK. It was planted between 1689 and 1695 with hornbeam (later replaced in the 1960s with yew), and the total length of the paths is around 800 metres.
The Villa Pisani Maze, Veneto, Italy
The statue of Minerva at Villa Pisani (Credit: Emmeci74 via Getty Images)
Just twenty minutes from Venice on the banks of the Brenta Canal is the monumental late-Baroque Villa Pisani. A contender for the biggest maze in the world, it’s probably the most famous, and most challenging, in all of Italy, and is thought to have an area of 3,600 square metres. It has a circular floor plan with nine concentric circles and was designed by Girolamo Frigimelica in 1720. Although probably an apocryphal story, it was rumoured Napoleon got lost in the maze when he lived at the villa in the early nineteenth century. In the centre is a stone turret topped with a statue of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom.
Longleat Maze, Wiltshire, England
Swirling maze, similar to the maze at Longleat (Credit: oversnap via Getty Images)
When it opened in 1978, the maze at the magnificent Elizabethan stately home of Longleat in Wiltshire was the world’s biggest maze by path length, with a cumulative distance of over 2.7 kilometres. It was laid out in the 1970s from more than 16,000 yew trees and was commissioned by Alexander Thynn, the 7th Marquess of Bath. The maze includes six raised wooden viewing bridges and a series of ‘lift if lost’ direction panels!
Peace Maze, Castlewellan, Northern Ireland
The Peace Maze in Castlewellan, Northern Ireland (Credit: navorolphotography via Getty Images)
Europe’s largest permanent hedge maze and the largest maze in the world until a pineapple stole its crown, the Peace Maze was created to commemorate the efforts of reconciliation of the people of Northern Ireland and a symbol of the nation’s journey towards peace. It comprises over 6,000 yew trees planted by people from all over the country and it covers around 2.7 acres. Situated in Castlewellan Forest Park in County Down, there are approximately 3.1 kilometres of pathways, and in the centre is the Peace Bell which visitors are invited to ring when they get there.
The Dole Pineapple Maze, Hawaii, USA
The Dole Pineapple Maze, Hawaii, USA (Credit: Medioimages/Photodisc via Getty Images)
Although it’s since been overtaken, the Giant Pineapple Maze at the Dole Plantation in Wahiawa, Hawaii held the coveted title of largest maze in the world in 2008. It covers an area of around three acres and has approximately four kilometres of paths with a giant pineapple in the middle! It’s constructed from more than 14,000 tropical Hawaiian plants, including hibiscus, heliconia, crotons, and, of course, pineapple plants!
Yancheng Dafeng Dream Maze, Jiangsu Province, China
It's easy to get lost in the world's biggest mazes! (Credit: Snowshill via Getty Images)
Not only is the Yancheng Dafeng Dream Maze the biggest maze in the world – with an area of almost nine acres – it’s recognised by Guinness World Records as the largest permanent hedge maze, the largest permanent maze, and for having the largest pathway network in a permanent hedge maze. If you were wondering, it’s 9.45 kilometres, or almost six miles! It opened to the public in September 2017 and the main, elk-shaped maze – there are other, smaller mazes within the complete structure – is lined with more than 100,000 Chinese juniper shrubs. This wandering wonderland also has garden rest areas, observation towers, bridges, and treasure hunt games.
The World’s Biggest Corn Maze
Mazezilla in Pennsylvania, one of the world's largest corn mazes (Credit: Alex Potemkin via Getty Images)
Corn mazes are a relatively new phenomenon and have become a way for farming communities – predominantly in the USA and Canada but with increasing popularity around the world – to generate additional income, a practice known as agritourism.
The process of making corn mazes is much quicker than that of hedge mazes. As the corn grows over the summer months, designs are planned often using GPS technology and computer software to create intricate patterns or images. Once the corn is tall enough, paths are cut or mowed into the field according to the design, creating the maze.
Most corn mazes are created in late summer and are open to the public during autumn, especially around harvest time and Halloween.
The current record for the world’s biggest corn maze belongs to Canadian farmer Luc Pelletier. He created a maze measuring a staggering 65.8 acres, or 266,106 square metres (the equivalent of about thirty seven football pitches) at his farm in La Pocatière, Quebec, Canada to give his city a tourist boost.
By path length, it’s believed the longest corn maze in the world belongs to the Richardson Adventure Farm in Spring Grove, Illinois USA with about sixteen kilometres of paths, including a perimeter pathway. The 24-acre maze includes checkpoints, bridges, games and snack stops!
