How big does a 2D maze need to be to take two centuries to fully map it?

I was reading a question and had a follow-up question with a story idea that I'd like to develop more fully.

The idea is a HUGE maze, thousands (or more) of square miles, that has small clearings created in it with magical happenings within them. It will have multiple biomes, but the main character is a "Cartographer" in that he makes maps for different paths through the maze to various communities that have developed in it.

The maze itself is composed of normal hedges with regenerative growing magic, and cannot be cut down or crossed on top of. The hedge will either grow in height or will continue to grow as it's being cut at a rate never allowing any gap at all to open. The setting is in the mid-1500's in terms of technology, and magic-tech fusion devices exist. There should be enough space in the maze to house at least 5 cities that can house 35000 people each, and numerous smaller cities/towns in smaller clearings. I want to stress that the maze needs to take centuries to fully map.

The gist of the story is that he finds a community, and falls in love with a fellow "cartographer", and loses her for years within the maze. I won't spoil the story and ending just in case, but I came on a bit of a scale question that I'm not sure I have the knowledge to answer.

How big would this maze have to be to not only house actual villages with farms and such, but also that numerous people could feasibly make a living mapping the maze?

posted almost 7 years ago

Anoplexian - Reinstate Monica‭

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