Cimitirul Vesel – Săpânța - Maramures

They who say that death must be sad have never been to cemetery in Sapinta. This place is famous for its brightly colored tombstones with naïve paintings describing - in an original and poetic manner - the people who are buried there, in addition to scenes from their lives. The Merry Cemetery became an open-air museum and a national tourist attraction.
It’s origins are linked with the name of Stan Ioan Pătraş, a local artist who sculpted the first tombstone crosses. In 1935, Pătraș carved the first epitaph and, as of the 1960s, more than 800 of such oak wood crosses came into sight.

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.

Under this heavy cross
Lies my poor mother-in-law
Three more days should she have lived
I would lie, and she would read (this cross).
You, who here are passing by
Not to wake her up please try
Cause' if she comes back home
She'll scold me more.
But I will surely behave
So she'll not return from grave.
Stay here, my dear mother in-law!