Merry Cemetery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Merry Cemetery (Romanian: Cimitirul Vesel) is a cemetery in the village of Săpânţa, Maramureş county, Romania. It is famous for its colourful tombstones with native paintings describing, in an original and poetic manner, the persons that are buried there as well as scenes from their lives. The Merry Cemetery became an open-air museum and a national tourist attraction.
The unusual feature of this cemetery is that it diverges from the prevalent belief, culturally shared within European societies -- a belief that views death as something indelibly solemn. Connections with the local Dacian culture have been made, a culture whose philosophical tenets presumably vouched for the immortality of the soul and the belief that death was a moment filled with joy and anticipation for a better life.
Contents |
[edit] The founder
The cemetery's origins are linked with the name of Stan Ioan Pătraş, a local artist who sculpted the first tombstone crosses. In 1935, Pătraş carved the first epitaph and, as of 1960s, more than 800 of such oak wood crosses came into sight. The inscription on his tombstone cross says:
| Romanian
De cu tînăr copilaş |
English
Since I was a little boy |
[edit] Funny epitaphs
| Romanian
... Să vă mai spun una bună |
English
...Now I will tell you a good one |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- More about Maramureş and the Merry Cemetery
- New York Times Article: In Merry Cemetery, Romanians' lives in carvings and verse
