The escape room of Queen Sissi

Our ancestors, just like us, made huge commitments to create good ways for recreation. For example, they made nice outdoor ‘escape rooms’ -ok it is better to say labyrinths - in t the parks of castles. The puzzles weren’t so complex and the gameplay was less intense, but they had fun, the aim was to go in the labyrinth and not get trapped there. The labyrinths always had some kind of mystery around them, just like the world-famous labyrinth of Tiszadob, Hungary. According to the legents it was built by the local noble Gyula Andrássy, with the sole purpose to trap the heart of Empress Elisabeth of Austria known as Queen Sissi.

According to the experts the labyrinths were appeared millennia ago connected to the religions. Later they lost their religious functions and became entertainment facilities.

The Labyrinths as the ancestors of escape rooms

 The most famous labyrinth located on the Greek island Crete. According to the Greek mythology, boys from Athens were sent to as a sacrifice until Theseus volunteered to venture into the labyrinth in order to kill the Minotaur. On his arrival in Crete, Ariadne fell in love with Theseus as she seen the boy’s noble heart  and, on the advice of Daedalus, gave him a ball of thread to find his way back from the labyrinth. Some says the story is about being generous and altruism helps to be so focused and single-minded, will help to find the way like the ball of thread did it for Theseus.

The fame of the labyrinths remained trough he centuries, so they took place in the gardens of monasteries and in the parks of the nobles. These labyrinths were built by planting brushes in special shapes. These had a huge aesthetic value and they also entertained the people who wanted some more relaxing enjoyment during the occasional parties.

Labyrinth for Queen Sissi?

This is where we have to take a note of Hungary's most famous hedge maze, located in Tiszadobo, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County. The maze of filigree complexity in the garden of Andrássy Castle was built based on the ideas of Earl Gyula Andrássy. The castle where the garden is located also has a few mysteries. The building, reminds about the castles aof  Loire area, it has four entrances, 12 towers, 52 rooms and 365 windows. This was made to remark the four seasons, 12 months, 52 weeks, the days of the year.

Of course the wonderful castle and the fabulous garden get into the mind of the local people, according to the legends the castle was built to impress Empress Elisabeth of Austria the wife of  Emperor Franz Joseph. According to the stories told, Empress Sissi, managed to visit the garden, once. The historians  also studied the connection between the Empress and Earl Andrássy, they found evidence about Sissi’s sympathy towards Andrássy which helped the Earl to set the emperor into a right direction when it came to Hungarian-Austrian Matters.

There is only one mention about Sissi and Earl Andrássy were two for a couple of minutes why they were heading to the railway station with the car of the Earl. The Labyrinth of Tiszadob can be freely visited today.