The Merry Cemetery in Sapanta

What an amazing place! When entering the Merry Cemetery, the wooden blue crosses with the different colorful images are spread out in front of you. The Roman people are not afraid of the death. They look at the cross as an entrance gate towards eternal rest. The Merry Cemetery got its name from its humorous undertone in the verses written on the crosses. The images represents a part of the deceased life either their occupation or another thing of significance describing the person, such as infidelity to take one example. Nothing stays a secret in a small village….

Some of the paintings even describe the cause of death. There were quite a few car accidents, while others drank themselves to death. You can spend hours in the cemetery just studying the paintings. Some of my favorites were the drunk barman, the Shepard playing music for his heard and the old woman taking care of the graves.

Sadly, we did not understand the written texts as they are written in a local Maramures dialect, but the paintings at least gave an indication for us to imagine ourselves the stories of the people.

Prepare for a colorful experience on many levels!