“The Islamic foursquare garden signified the four quarters of the universe, with the four rivers of life intersecting at the garden’s centre.

“The Persians, and later Islam in its traditions, balance the lack of generosity by nature creating gardens using the reassuring colour of living green, the colour that became a sign for Islam.

“The garden enjoyed an interlocking complexity with architecture.

“Tiled and well-ordered courtyards were symmetrically pre-occupied, representing transcendental purity and perfection, in direct contrast to mankind’s and natures predictable imperfection.”

http://www.thecultureconcept.com/circle/walking-a-labyrinth-chartres-cathedral-to-centennial-park