The Merry Cemetery

The Merry Cemetery is a cemetery in the village of Săpânța, Maramureș County, Romania. It is famous for its brightly coloured tombstones with naïve paintings describing, in a poetic and humourous 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 has been listed as one of the Seven Wonders of Romania.

The cemetery's origins are linked with the name of Stan Ioan Pătraș, a local artist who sculpted the first tombstone crosses. In 1935, Pătraș carved the first epitaph after being at a funeral and hearing what people were saying about the deceased. He was amused and wrote a poem as the epitaph. As of the 1960s, more than 800 such oak wood crosses have been added and still are being added.

This seems to be the most famous and loved....
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!Read more