Labyrinth at St. Francis Park
Portland, Oregon, United States
At St. Francis Park in southeast Portland, a permanent labyrinth sits in the small park the Franciscan parish keeps open to the neighborhood. The walk belongs to the parish's contemplative practice and to the park's daily users alike.
At St. Francis Park in southeast Portland, a permanent labyrinth sits in the small park the Franciscan parish keeps open to the neighborhood. The walk belongs to the parish's contemplative practice and to the park's daily users alike. The Labyrinth Locator's record lists it as Medieval 11-circuit; installed 2017.
Every labyrinth is a walking practice, not a puzzle: a single path winds to a center and back out, and the walk is done slowly, as prayer or meditation. The pattern descends from the medieval pavement labyrinth at Chartres, and the modern urban revival began in the 1990s when Lauren Artress brought replicas of that path to American congregations and public grounds through Veriditas and the Labyrinth Society, whose World-Wide Labyrinth Locator now catalogs thousands. There is no branching and no trick to the path; walkers of every religion and none use it.
Visiting
the labyrinth listing carries the site's own information and schedule.
Photo: [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ASt._Francis_Park_(Portland%2C_Oregon).jpg), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Associated traditions & practices
Visitor stories