Lose yourself in the world’s most impressive labyrinths and mazes | CNN

Villa Pisani

Local legend has it that Napoleon Bonaparte -- a previous owner of Villa Pisani -- once got lost in this garden's famous maze. Built in the 18th century and one of the few remaining hedge mazes in Italy, the boxwood labyrinth is constructed from twelve concentric rings and leads to a small turret in its middle.

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Once described by English historian Ernest Law as "the most famous maze in the history of the world," the Hampton Court Maze is the UK's oldest surviving hedge maze.

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Designed in a trapezoid shape by George London and Henry Wise between 1689 and 1695, the Hampton Court Maze covers a third of an acre of the famous Palace gardens and takes an average of 30 to 45 minutes to complete.

Jon Candy

The longest -- but not the largest -- hedge maze in the world, the Longleat Hedge Maze covers 1.48 acres (0.6 hectares) of land and includes 1.69 miles (2.7 km) of walkways. The maze was constructed in 1975 using more than 16,000 yew trees and sits on land that has been owned by the Marquesses of Bath since the mid-16th century.

Ashcombe maze

Australia's oldest and most famous hedge maze, the Ashcombe Maze was built over 40 years ago using more than 1,000 cypress trees. Set among 25 acres (10 hectares) of garden in Australia's beautiful Mornington Peninsula, the complex also features a lavender labyrinth and a circular rose maze.

Ashcombe Maze

The evergreen Ashcombe Maze now stands more than three meters high (9.8 ft), and is two meters wide (6.6 ft) in parts. It's clipped three times a year to keep its shape.

ANTONIO MARTINELLI

Extending over a vast 80,000 square meters (more than 860,000 square feet) of land, the Masone labyrinth near Parma in Italy was declared the largest maze in the world after it opened to the public in 2015.

Labirinto della Masone

Owned and conceptualized by Italian publisher and art collector, Franco Maria Ricci, the maze took more than a decade of planning. The complex -- including the buildings and surrounding park -- was designed in conjunction with the architects Pier Carlo Bontempi and Davide Dutto.

Labirinto della Masone

Inspired by a Roman design, the Masone labyrinth is made of different types of bamboo and has four inter-connected mazes bounded by a star-shaped perimeter. The pyramid at the middle of the maze hosts a chapel that has been entirely plated with gold on its inside.

Dole Plantation

Stretching over three acres (1.2 hectares) the enormous Pineapple Garden Maze in Oahu is made of tropical plants and features a giant pineapple in its middle.

Richardson Adventure Farm

Covering 28 acres (more than 11 hectares) of cornfield, Richardson Corn Maze is the largest maize maze in the world. The owners of the farm planted their first maze using corn in 2001 and change the theme regularly. The present Star Trek design -- a tribute to the TV and movie series' 50th anniversary -- was unveiled in 2016.

CNN —

If the numerous elaborate mazes and labyrinths constructed across the world are any indication, there’s a certain appeal to the feeling of being lost.

These geometric networks of rigid hedges challenge us to navigate our way their the core – or fight our way to an exit.

Mentions of the labyrinth can be found as early as the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, where heroic Theseus was given a ball of thread by the king of Crete’s daughter Ariadne to help him remember the way out of the Minotaur’s labyrinth.

Centuries later, Versailles’ famed labyrinth – which included 39 fountains, each depicting one of Aesop’s fables – became an international attraction when it was completed in 1677, although it was later razed around a century later and replaced with another garden.

One of the best known mazes still in use today is the one at Hampton Court Palace in England. Commissioned around 1700, it covers a third of an acre in the palace’s gardens and takes an entire team of gardeners to maintain the site.

“It’s the UK’s oldest surviving hedge maze,” Graham Dillamore, Gardens Operations Manager at Hampton Court Palace said, “and still proves as popular with visitors today as it was when planted for the amusement of King William III and Queen Mary II over 300 years ago.”

Check out the gallery above to get lost in some of today’s most exciting mazes and labyrinths.