Labirinto della Masone

Top choice in Parma


The opening of the world's largest maze in 2015 fulfilled a lifetime dream of art publisher Franco Maria Ricci, who once published what many considered to be the most beautiful art magazine in the world, FMR. Ricci's 7-hectare bamboo labyrinth in the countryside in Fontanellato 17km west of Parma is perhaps Emilia-Romagna's quirkiest unmissable attraction. Kids and adults alike love getting lost en route to an interior courtyard – set aside an hour – which includes two luxury suites (€950 per night).

But in addition to the maze, Ricci's extraordinary personal art collection, amassed over 50 years, includes Napoleonic busts, mannerist works, paintings spanning the 17th to 19th centuries, original illustrations of Luigi Serafini's Codex Seraphinianus, a wooden model of Milan's duomo, countless FMR magazine covers and a thoroughly fascinating room devoted to morbid 17th-century still-life vanitas. Unfortunately, you'll need personal transport to reach the park.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

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