Sapphire Lebesque's Blog: Margin Notes - Posts Tagged "hea"
Puzzle Mazes
A box-hedge maze features in Romancing Ava Russell. When Hugo and Ava attend the Duke of Stapleton's house party, the hosts have devised a competition in the maze in their formal south-facing garden. I took the inspiration for Stapleton's maze from the one at Hampton Court.
Garden mazes evolved from the knot gardens, which were earlier herb gardens. These were low and mostly planted with herbs, but over time the dwarf box became popular because it was robust.
The puzzle maze was inspired by the labyrinth concept of mythology, most famously the labyrinth the Minotaur lived and lurked in, in the myth of ancient Greece. The Minotaur was a half bull, half man monster who demanded an annual sacrifice of young virgins, male and female.
The words 'maze' and 'labyrinth' have become almost synonymous in contemporary culture. Puzzle mazes or hedge mazes became popular during the Renaissance and many stately homes have them.
Famous ones in the UK are Hampton Court Maze (of course), Longleat Maze, constructed of yew, and in Europe, Andrássy Castle Maze (Hungary), Hedge Labyrinth of Villa Pisani (Italy), and around the world, Ashcombe Maze (Australia) and Dole Pineapple Maze (Hawaii), not purely grown from pineapples but thousands of species of Hawaiian vegetation.
Garden mazes evolved from the knot gardens, which were earlier herb gardens. These were low and mostly planted with herbs, but over time the dwarf box became popular because it was robust.
The puzzle maze was inspired by the labyrinth concept of mythology, most famously the labyrinth the Minotaur lived and lurked in, in the myth of ancient Greece. The Minotaur was a half bull, half man monster who demanded an annual sacrifice of young virgins, male and female.
The words 'maze' and 'labyrinth' have become almost synonymous in contemporary culture. Puzzle mazes or hedge mazes became popular during the Renaissance and many stately homes have them.
Famous ones in the UK are Hampton Court Maze (of course), Longleat Maze, constructed of yew, and in Europe, Andrássy Castle Maze (Hungary), Hedge Labyrinth of Villa Pisani (Italy), and around the world, Ashcombe Maze (Australia) and Dole Pineapple Maze (Hawaii), not purely grown from pineapples but thousands of species of Hawaiian vegetation.
Margin Notes
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