Religious Labyrinths

From Maze

Mazes also have a tendency to turn up in Christian houses of worship, specifically in Italy and France. The earliest labyrinth shows up in the Basilica of Saint Reparata (Algiers) in 324 CE and they continue to be included through today.

These mazes tended to be labyrinths, meant to be walked or crawled on the path to penance. They did not contain dead ends or choice points, until the 15th century, when the aberration appeared as Helmut Birkhan explains, as a "symptom of the secularization of the labyrinth idea" (quoted in Kern 146). The entrances of these labyrinths tended to face the western wall of the church on which scenes of The Last Judgment would be depicted. Thus, these walkable pathways become linked with the idea of the path to Christian salvation.

Labyrinth of Sin The Path to Redemption Easter Dance Images of a Worldview The Path to Jerusalem Maison Dedalus.

Arguably the most famous and largest (approx. 12.3 m) church labyrinth appears in Chartres, and its dimensions have a curious relationship to its symbology. (Kern 153)

Note: Maze as path to be followed as haptic prayer ritual, as allegorical path.

• Note Kern's section on Easter Dance