The Merry Cemetery is a specially designed cemetery in Săpânța Municipality in Maramureș County in northern Romania.
Known for its brightly colored tombstones with original naïve art drawings and poetic texts illustrating the people buried in the cemetery and episodes from their lives.
The idea of the emergence of an unusual cemetery is associated with the name of Stan Ioan Pătraş, a local woodcarver. He made the first grave cross, in 1935 he carved the first epitaph. By the 1960s, more than 800 oak crosses made by the master appeared in the cemetery. The inscription on his tombstone reads: For all my life..I didn’t hurt anyone…
Today the cheerful cemetery has been turned into an open-air museum and a major tourist attraction.
Access : Coordinates: 47.971389, 23.695556 / The Joyful Cemetery (in Romanian Cimitirul Vesel din Săpânța ) located in the village of Sapantza, Maramureş County, Romania, just 8 kilometers from the border with Ukraine
Highlights :
- What is unusual about this cemetery is that its appearance is at odds with the prevailing belief in European societies about death as a gloomy and mournful event.
- Connections have been made with Dacian culture, whose philosophical tenets posited the immortality of the soul and the belief that death was a time filled with joy and hope for a better life – see also Zalmoxianism.
Go next : The village of Săpânța, Maramures County, Romania / Fortress of Ardud / Bârsana Orthodox Monastery / Village Museum in Baia Mare.
