Maze

For other uses, seeMaze (disambiguation).

Not to be confused withMaize.

Obludiste - hedge maze Czech republic

Ahedge mazeatLongleatstately home inEngland

Amazeis a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branchingtour puzzlesthrough which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ( "unicursal" ) patterns that lead unambiguously through a convoluted layout to a goal. The term "labyrinth"is generally synonymous with" maze ", but can also connote specifically a unicursal pattern.The pathways and walls in a maze are typically fixed, but puzzles in which the walls and paths can change during the game are also categorised as mazes or tour puzzles.

Construction

Mazes have been built with walls and rooms, withhedges,turf,corn stalks,straw bales,books, paving stones of contrasting colors or designs, and brick,or in fields of crops such ascornor, indeed,maize.Maize mazes can be very large; they are usually only kept for one growing season, so they can be different every year, and are promoted as seasonaltourist attractions.

Indoors, mirror mazes are another form of maze, in which many of the apparent pathways are imaginary routes seen through multiple reflections in mirrors. Another type of maze consists of a set of rooms linked by doors (so a passageway is just another room in this definition). Players enter at one spot, and exit at another, or the idea may be to reach a certain spot in the maze. Mazes can also be printed or drawn onpaperto be followed by apencilor fingertip. Mazes can also be built with snow.

A small maze with one entrance and one exit.

Generation

Main article:Maze generation algorithm

Maze generation is the act of designing the layout of passages and walls within a maze. There are many different approaches to generating mazes, with variousmaze generation algorithmsfor building them, either by hand or automatically bycomputer.

There are two main mechanisms used to generate mazes. In "carving passages", one marks out the network of available routes. In building a maze by "adding walls", one lays out a set of obstructions within an open area.

Solution

Main article:Maze solving algorithm

Maze solving is the act of finding a route through the maze from the start to finish. Some maze solving methods are designed to be used inside the maze by a traveler with no prior knowledge of the maze, whereas others are designed to be used by a person or computer program that can see the whole maze at once.

ThemathematicianLeonhard Eulerwas one of the first to analyze plane mazes mathematically, and in doing so made the first significant contributions to the branch of mathematics known astopology.

Mazes containing no loops are known as "standard", or "perfect" mazes, and are equivalent to atreein graph theory. Thus many maze solving algorithms are closely related tograph theory.Intuitively, if one pulled and stretched out the paths in the maze in the proper way, the result could be made to resemble a tree.

Psychology experiments

Mazes are often used inpsychologyexperimentsto study spatialnavigationandlearning.Such experiments typically useratsormice.Examples are:

• Barnes maze
• Morris water maze
  • Oasis maze
• Radial arm maze
• Elevated plus maze
• T-maze

Types

A fractal maze (top) with 3 iterations (left) and a solution (right)

Ball-in-a-maze puzzles

Dexterity puzzles which involve navigating a ball through a maze or labyrinth.

Fractal maze

A maze containing holes inside which the maze is indefinitely repeated at a smaller scale.

Hamilton maze

A maze in which the goal is to find the uniqueHamiltonian cycle.

Logic mazes

These are like standard mazes except they use rules other than "don't cross the lines" to restrict motion.

Picture maze

A standard maze that forms a picture when solved.

Turf mazesandmizmazes

A pattern like a long rope folded up, without any junctions or crossings.

Gallery

• 
  Standard maze: Find a path from and back to the star.
• 
  Circular maze type: Find a route to the centre of the maze.
• 
  Loops and traps maze: Follow the arrows from and back to the star
• 
  Block maze: Fill in four blocks to make a road connecting the stars. No diagonals.
• 
  Number maze: Begin and end at the star. Using the number in your space, jump that number of blocks in a straight line to a new space. No diagonals.

Public attractions

Asia

Dubai

• Gardens Shopping Mall,Dubai (world's largest indoor maze)

India

• Bhulbhulayia

Japan

• Hikimi no Meiro,Kiso,Nagano, Japan
• Kyodai Meiro Palladium,Nikkō, Tochigi,Japan
• Sendai Hi-Land,Sendai, Miyagi,Japan
• Shirahama Energy Land,Shirahama, Wakayama,Japan

Pacific

New Zealand

• Amazing Maze n' Maize
• The Great Maze at Puzzling World

Europe

Austria

• Schönbrunn Palace,Vienna, has a large hedge maze in its gardens.
• Swarovski Crystal World,Wattens, Tyrol, has a hand-shaped hedge maze in its gardens.

Belgium

• Loppem Castlemaze

Czech Republic

• Obludiste,Dolni Pena(Jindrichuv Hradec) - hedge maze 6.000 m²

Denmark

• Samsø Labyrinten(The world's largest permanent maze, 60.000 m²)

Germany

• Hortus Vitalis– Der Irrgarten,Bad Salzuflen(hedge maze)

Greece

• Labyrinth ParknearHersonissos,Crete (extends to approximately 1.300 m²)

Italy

• Castello di Masino, Caravino 10010, Torino, Italia
• Porsenna's Maze,Chiusi,Tuscany (seePliny's Italian labyrinth)
• Villa Pisani, Stra,near Venice (45.409587°N 12.013131°E/45.409587; 12.013131(Maze))
• The labyrinth ofFranco Maria RicciatFontanellato(44.853989°N 10.146446°E/44.853989; 10.146446(Maze))

Netherlands

• Waterlabyrinth,Nijmegen,designed byKlaus van de Locht,1981(51.85016°N 5.860471°E/51.85016; 5.860471(Labyrinth))
• Doolhof Ruurlo,Ruurlo,designed byDaniel Marot,based on the design forHampton Court Maze(52.078266°N 6.433654°E/52.078266; 6.433654(Doolhof Ruurlo))

Portugal

• Parque do Arnado,Ponte de Lima,District of Viana do Castelo
• Parque de São Roque,District of Porto
• Forest Reserve of Pinhal da Paz,São Miguel Island, Azores

Spain

• Alcázar of Seville,Seville
• Corn Laberynth in theCamino de Santiago,León
• Parc del laberint d'Horta,Barcelona,(41.440235°N 2.145769°E/41.440235; 2.145769(Parc del laberint))
• Parc de la Torreblanca,Esplugues de Llobregat(41.37856°N 2.054628°E/41.37856; 2.054628(Labyrinth))
• Parque de El Capricho,Madrid
• Laberinto de Villapresente,Cantabria.With 5,625qm, it is the largest maze in Spain.
• Parque de Tentegorra,Murcia
• Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso,Segovia(40.5352°N 3.5956°W/40.5352; -3.5956(Labyrinth Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso))

United Kingdom

Traquair House Maze, Scotland

• Blake House Craft Centre,Braintree, Essex, England (Open July–September)
• Carnfunnock Country Park,Northern Ireland. A hedge maze in the shape of Northern Ireland and winner of 1985 Design a Maze competition.
• Castlewellan,Northern Ireland, world's largest permanent hedge maze
• Chatsworth Housegarden maze, planted with 1,209 yews.
• Cliveden HouseOriginally laid out in 1894, the maze was restored and re-opened to the public in 2011, consisting of 1100 Yew trees.
• Crystal Palace Park,South London. Laid out in the 1870s, this is the largest maze in London.
• Glendurgan Garden,Cornwall. A cherry laurel hedge maze created in 1833.
• Hampton Court Maze.A famous historic maze in the Palace gardens.
• Hever Castle Maze,Hever, Kent. Yew tree maze and a splashing water maze
• Hoo Hill Maze,Shefford, Bedfordshire,England
• Norwich Cathedral,Norfolk, England. A labyrinth in the Cloister Garth. Laid to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II in 2002.
• Richings Park Amazing Maize Maze,Richings Park,near Heathrow, England (Open July–September)
• Saffron Walden,anEssextown with its historicBridge End Gardenshedge maze and the England's largest turf maze
• Saltwell Park,Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. A yew-tree maze restored to its original condition in 2005 and open to the public during park opening hours.
• Somerleyton Hall,Suffolk, England. A yew hedge maze designed and planted in 1846 by William Nesfield.
• Traquair House,Peeblesshire, Scotland. A beech tree hedge maze designed by John Schofield.
• York Maze,nearRAF Elvington,with a different design each year

North America

Public maze atWild Adventurestheme park,Valdosta, Georgia,United States. It was removed before the 2010 season.

Maze atMissouri Botanical Gardenin St. Louis

Canada

• In 2012, the Kraay Family Farm inAlberta, Canadacreated the world's largestQR codein the form of a massive corn maze, popularly known as The Edmonton Corn Maze.

United States

• The Stanley HotelinEstes Park, Coloradoin 2015 installed a 10,100-square-foot hedge maze on its front lawn, using 1,600 to 2,000 Alpine Currant hedge bushes. Previously the hotel had no maze, though one was featured prominently in the1980 film adaptionofStephen King's novelThe Shining,which is set at the hotel.
• Dole Pineapple Plantation,Oahu.
• Tanglewood Music CenterHedge Maze,LenoxandStockbridge, Massachusetts.
• The Wooz was a maze attraction opened in 1988 in Vacaville, California by Sun Creative System, a Japanese company that had seen success with the concept in Japan. Despite initial interest, high admission cost and hot summers led the park to close in 1992. The failure of the Wooz scuttled Sun Creative System's plans for additional maze attractions in the U.S.

South Africa

Chartwell Castle in Johannesburg claims to have the biggest known uninterrupted hedgerow maze in the Southern world, with over 900 conifers. It covers about 6000 sq.m. (approximately 1.5 acres), which is around 5 times bigger than The Hampton Court Maze. The center is about 12m × 12m. The maze was designed and laid out byConrad Penny.

Caribbean

Cuba

The colonial city ofCamagüey,Cuba, founded in 1528, layout resembles a real maze, with narrow, short streets always turning in one direction or another. After pirate Henry Morgan burned the city in the 17th century, it was designed like a maze so attackers would find it hard to move around inside the city. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

South America

Brazil

• Labirinto Verde,Nova Petrópolis,(Circular hedge maze built in 1989; Latitude 29°22'32.71 "S Longitude 51°06'43.68" W)

In popular culture

Television

• BothNubeluzandAmerican Gladiators,from Peru and the United States respectively, featured a giant life-size maze used in competition. The object on both programs was for the contestants to find their way from the entrance to the exit as quickly as possible. OnNubeluz,the contestants took turns running through the maze and had a maximum of 1 minute to reach the exit;onAmerican Gladiators,both contestants ran through the maze simultaneously and were given 45 seconds to find the correct solution.The giant maze was part of the game rotation on both programs concurrently, and was also retired from both programs simultaneously.

The Shining

• The film adaptation ofStephen King's 1977 novel,The Shining(1980), includes ascenefeaturing Jack Torrance and Danny Torrance in a hedge maze.

See also

• Celtic maze
• Stone labyrinths of Bolshoi Zayatsky Island

Further reading

• Ettore Selli,"Labirinti Vegetali, la guida completa alle architetture verdi dei cinque continenti",Ed. Pendragon, 2020; ISBN 9788833642222
• Abelson, H.; diSessa, A. (1980).Turtle Geometry: The Computer as a Medium for Exploring Mathematics.MIT Press.ISBN9780262010634.
• Fisher, Adrian (2006).The Amazing Book of Mazes.London: Thames & Hudson and New York: Harry N Abrams Inc.ISBN978-0-500-51247-0.
• Fisher, Adrian; Gerster, Georg (1990).The Art of the Maze.London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.ISBN0-297-83027-9.
• Fisher, Adrian & Loxton, Howard (1997).Secrets of the Maze.London: Thames & Hudson.ISBN978-0-500-01811-8.
• Fisher, Adrian; Saward, Jeff (1991).The British Maze Guide.St Albans, UK: Minotaur Designs.The definitive guide to British Mazes.
• Martineau, John Southcliffe (2005).Mazes and Labyrinths: In Great Britain.Wooden Books.ISBN978-1-904263-33-3.
• Matthews, W. H. (1927).Mazes and Labyrinths: Their History and Development.Includes"Bibliography".Mazes and Labyrinths.Dover Publications. 1970.ISBN0-486-22614-X.
• Saward, Jeff (2002).Magical Paths.Mitchell Beazley.ISBN1-84000-573-4.

External links

• Media related toMazesat Wikimedia Commons
• "Britain's best mazes".Times Online.21 August 2006.
• Labyrinth Societyofficial web page
• Neild, Barry (29 September 2006)."Shortcuts: Escaping a maze".CNN Briefing Room.