Winter Schedule: 9.30-18.00 | Last entry at 16.30

Winter Schedule: 9.30-18.00 | Last entry at 16.30

Labirinto della Masone di Franco Maria Ricci

In Parma, the world’s largest labyrinth

An elegant, seductive maze entirely made of bamboo plants. A place of culture and delights

ORHAN PAMUK

Words and Images

From November 18, 2023 to March 17, 2023

MUSCA DEPICTA

There’s a Fly on the Painting

From April 6, 2024 to June 30, 2024

LABYRINTH
The largest bamboo labyrinth in existence, it is entirely made of bamboo plants.

Numbering around 300 thousand in total, between 3 and 15 metres in height, and belonging to many species. A path in which to venture and get lost, to fantasize and reflect. Evocative arcades of bamboo frame the labyrinth’s pathways, offering visitors refuge and giving the sensation of finding oneself immersed in another dimension. Surprising views are afforded by stalks of different sizes, that are variously spotted, striped or of unusual colouration.

  • 18 November 2023
  • 17 March 2024

This fall season, the Masone Labyrinth welcomes a major new exhibition dedicated to the little-known graphic production of acclaimed writer Orhan Pamuk, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2006.

  • 18 November 2023
  • 17 March 2024
  • 6 April 2024
  • 30 June 2024

In spring 2024, the Masone Labyrinth presents MUSCA DEPICTA: There’s a Fly on the Painting, a large and curious new exhibition that traces the appearance of flies in visual art from the school of Giotto to the present day.

  • 6 April 2024
  • 30 June 2024
News and events at the Labyrinth
The Art Collection
Portrait of a Woman, Francesca Majnoni d'Intignano dell'Acquafredda

Francesco Hayez (1791-1882) 1829, Oil on canvas

An excellent example of the portraiture of one of the most celebrated and gifted artists of Italian Romanticism, this painting portrays a lady of Milanese high society in 1829, Francesca Majnoni, the widow of Stefano Bernardo Majnoni d’Intignano who had died three years earlier. Her husband had been director general of the Kingdom of Italy’s monopolies, court councillor and director of the tobacco factory for Emperor Franz I of Austria, who had conferred Austrian nobility on him in 1819, allowing d’Intignano to be added to his name.

Eclectic and intriguing, the art collection reflects the personal tastes of Franco Maria Ricci and takes in five centuries of the History of Art, with works ranging from the Sixteenth to the Twentieth centuries.
Franco Maria Ricci
I first dreamed of building a Labyrinth around thirty years ago. On several occasions back then, in my country house outside Parma, I played host to a friend and valued contributor in the publishing house I had founded: Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges. It is a well-known fact that the Labyrinth was one of his favorite themes. And the paths traced by the hesitant footfalls of the blind writer as he walked around me, made me think of the uncertainty of those who move in the midst of forks in the path and enigmas.
AN EXCLUSIVE STAY

Suites

Located in the heart of the Labyrinth are two suites, Suited to lovers of luxury and comfort, finished with artworks and refined decor.

ARCHITECTURE

The buildings

Were inspired by the neoclassical architectural utopia of Boullée, Lequeu, Ledoux and Antolini and designed in keeping with traditional Italian and European tenets.

Educational Activities
“Quod in juventute discitur …”
What you learn in your youth, you know forever.

Labrinto della Masone is a unique place, where nature and culture come together in the name of beauty: from the largest bamboo maze in the world to the renowned collections of art and books, the Franco Maria Ricci Foundation offers a rich and varied educational opportunity for schools of all levels. The facilities are expansive and fully supervised, making them the ideal setting for safe educational tours.

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