The Labirinto della Masone is one of the most original cultural creations in contemporary Italy, a place where nature, architecture and imagination come together in a refined and unexpected harmony. Its history cannot be separated from the vision of Franco Maria Ricci, the distinguished publisher and collector whose lifelong fascination with beauty, geometry and elegance inspired the idea of creating the world’s largest bamboo labyrinth. For many years this idea remained little more than a dream, something he carried with him while working on his celebrated editorial projects. After leaving the publishing world, he finally decided to dedicate himself entirely to turning this dream into a real and enduring landscape. The chosen site was his estate in the countryside near Fontanellato, a quiet corner of Parma whose open plains offered the perfect setting for a project of such scale. Bamboo was planted patiently and shaped over time, creating long living walls that formed a complex network of corridors inspired by classical labyrinth traditions. When it opened to the public in 2015, the labyrinth revealed itself not only as a botanical wonder but also as a cultural center. At its heart stands a series of elegant spaces that hold Ricci’s personal art collection, a remarkable gathering of works that span centuries and reflect his distinctive sense of taste and curiosity. Our own visit added a vivid, personal dimension to this history. Walking through the narrow bamboo paths, we felt a slow shift in atmosphere with every turn, as if the labyrinth were guiding us into quieter states of mind. The height and density of the bamboo created moving patterns of light and shadow, making each moment in the maze feel slightly different from the one before. There were times when the silence seemed almost complete, broken only by the rustling of leaves above us. Reaching the central square felt like arriving at the calm center of a much larger thought, a place where Ricci’s artistic vision becomes fully visible. Inside the cultural complex, we explored rooms filled with paintings, sculptures and rare objects, each arranged with the same sense of clarity and balance that shapes the labyrinth itself. Being there made it clear how deeply the entire project reflects Ricci’s personality and his devotion to beauty as an organizing principle of life. By the time we left, the experience felt both peaceful and energizing, as if the labyrinth had offered not only a physical path but also a quiet mental journey through imagination, memory and space.In this way, the story of the Labirinto della Masone intertwines with the memory of our visit, turning a place born from one man’s dream into a landscape that continues to shape the thoughts and sensations of those who walk through it.
