Labyrinth
Labyrinth
A complicated arrangement of paths and passages; or a place, usually subterraneous, full of windings, corridors, rooms, etc., so intricately arranged as to render the getting out of it a very difficult matter.
The labyrinth as an architectural term derives its name from the famous ancient or mythical labyrinths of Crete and Egypt. Geometrical figures composed of various pieces of coloured marbles and so disposed as to form labyrinths were frequently found in the pavements of French cathedrals and so-called labyrinthes de pavé. The finest remaining example is in the centre of the nave of Notre Dame, Chartres, and a person following the various windings and turns of the figure would walk nearly 800 feet before he arrived at the centre, although the circumference does not exceed thirteen yards. Similar labyrinths formerly existed at Notre Dame, Paris, at the cathedral of Reims, and at Amiens. This latter was only taken up in the latter part of the last century, and the centre stone (which is octangular and was formerly inlaid with brass imagery) is still preserved in the museum of that city. These labyrinths were supposed to have originated in a symbolical allusion to the Holy City, and certain prayers and devotions doubtless accompanied the perambulation of their intricate mazes.
In modern times, generally a fantastic arrangement of lofty and thick hedges in a garden as at Hampton Court, where it is difficult to find one’s way to the centre.
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THOMAS H. POOLE Transcribed by Christine J. Murray
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIIICopyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Labyrinth
At St. Bertin’s, in St. Omer, there was one of those curious floors, representing the Temple of Jerusalem, with stations for pilgrims, and actually visited and traversed by them as a compromise for not going to the Holy Land in fulfilment of a vow. The labyrinth at Sens was destroyed in 1768; those of Arras and Amiens shared the same fate in 1825. There is a round labyrinth in the centre of the nave of Chartres, inlaid with lead; another, of encaustic tiles, in the chapter-house of Bayeux; and a third, of octagonal shape, in the nave of St. Quentin.