An aerial view of Franco Maria Ricci's maze at Fontanellato near Parma. Photograph: Guardian
Italian art publisher Franco Maria Ricci sent readers of his magazine FMR a message when he retired six years ago. Quoting Voltaire, he asked to be allowed to cultivate his garden.
At the time, few thought that he meant it literally but now it has been revealed that Mr Ricci has built the world’s largest maze at Fontanellato [Emilia-Romagna]. The maze of bamboo hedges reportedly covers seven hectares [17.5 acres] of ground and was based on mazes depicted in two Roman mosaics.
The Guardian reports that Mr Ricci first confided his ambition to build the world’s largest maze to the writer Jorge Luis Borges, who told him that it already existed and was called the desert.
This was obviously a challenge to Mr Ricci, who has published some of the world’s most daring artworks.
The maze will be opened to the public in 2012 and Mr Ricci advises visitors to being mobile phones so that they can call for help.
Would you like to visit this maze? Have you ever got lost in a maze?
