Merry Cemetery

Merry Cemetery
Merry cemetery tombstones

The Merry Cemetery (Romanian: Cimitirul Vesel pronounced [t͡ʃimiˈtirul ˈvesel]) is a cemetery in the village of Săpânţa, Maramureş county, Romania. It is famous for its colourful tombstones with naïve 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 (see also Zalmoxianism).

Contents

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
Io am fost Stan Ion Pătraş
Să mă ascultaţ oameni buni
Ce voi spune nu-s minciuni

Cîte zile am trăit
Rău la nime n-am dorit
Dar bine cît-am putut
Orişicine mia cerut

Vai săraca lumea mea
Că greu am trăit în ea

English

Since I was a little boy
I was known as Stan Ioan Pătraş
Listen to me, fellows
There are no lies in what I am going to say

All along my life
I meant no harm to anyone
But did good as much as I could
To anyone who asked

Oh, my poor World
Because It was hard living in it

Funny epitaphs

Romanian

... Să vă mai spun una bună
Mi-o plăcut ţuica de prună
Cu prietenii la birt
Uitam şi de ce-am venit

English

...Now I will tell you a good one
I kind of liked the plum ţuica
With my friends at the pub
I used to forget what I came for

Gallery

See also

External links


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