maze

maze, detail of landscape gardening based on the Greek labyrinth, consisting of intricate paths or alleys lined with high hedges and having a center and exit difficult to find. It was a prominent feature in the formal English gardens of the 17th and 18th cent., the most notable being that of Hampton Court Palace, London. Some medieval cathedrals, e.g., Amiens, had a pattern of contrasting stones on the floor of the nave that was also called a maze.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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