In 1936, Stan Patras began carving crosses to mark the graves of community members in his small town. And for more than forty years he kept carving, eventually completing several hundred crosses.
In the village of Săpânța, Maramureș County, Romania, near the border of Ukraine, there is an unusual cemetery where the grave markers have been carved from wood and hand painted in bright colors. Each one is a custom work of art created to memorialize the deceased of the village.
The cemetery is more commonly known as "Merry Cemetery", a fitting name for a delightful burial ground that makes visitors smile.
Research your ancestors on MyHeritage
History
In the mid-1930s, Stan Ioan Pătraş began carving wooden crosses to mark the graves of his fellow community members in his small town. He continued carving for more than forty years, ultimately completing several hundred crosses by the time he died in 1977.
Merry Cemetery is surely the most famous cemetery in Romania, and perhaps one of the most famous in the world. The burial ground is a national tourist attraction and has been listed by Imperator Travel as one of the Seven Wonders of Romania.[1]
An Outdoor Art Museum
Merry Cemetery is considered by many to be more than a graveyard; it is an outdoor art museum. Each wooden cross was uniquely designed as a legacy for the person who was being buried. Pătraş memorialized the deceased by carving figures that represented their occupation, hobby, or talent. The grave markers feature shepherds tending their sheep, mothers cooking, coal miners, and musicians playing the violin [1].
Pătraş sometimes designed grave markers to show how the person died, such as a girl that was hit by a car or a boy that drowned in a river. He didn’t confine himself to traditional epitaphs like "Rest in Peace" or "Gone but Not Forgotten" either. Rather, his inscriptions included references to cheating spouses, priests that envied the wicked, and drunkards.
When Pătraş finished carving, he painted the memorials in brilliant colors with the most dominant color being royal blue.
Humorous Grave Markers
Throughout Europe, cemeteries have traditionally been places of solemnity, designed to cause visitors to feel a sense of mourning as well as to ponder their status in the face of their own impending mortality.
But Merry Cemetery is different. The grave markers are light-hearted, playful, and in many cases downright humorous. Pătraş wrote the epitaphs using his book of notes based on town gossip [2]. Here's an epitaph that poked fun at a mother-in-law:
"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!"
Merry Cemetery's Founder
Born in 1908, Pătraş used his skills as a wood carver to help support his family financially from the time he was 14-years-old.
Before Pătraş died, he carved his own memorial, including a self-portrait. The inscription on his grave marker reads:
"Since I was a little boy,
I was known as Stan Ion Pătraş.
Listen to me, good people,
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."
Merry Cemetery Today
Following Pătraş’ death, his work was carried on by his apprentice, Dumitru Pop. Pop carves and paints 20 -30 grave markers each year, as needed.
Merry Cemetery continues to be a place where traditionally sad good-byes are softened with a touch of humor and whimsical folk art.
Explore more about famous cemeteries
- Cemetery Records Worldwide, BillionGraves, MyHeritage Catalog Collection at MyHeritage
- Documenting Cemeteries with BillionGraves webinar at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- Stories in Stone – Cemetery Research webinar at Legacy Family Tree Webinars
- London's Magnificent Seven Cemeteries, BillionGraves Blog
- The Seven Largest Cemeteries in the World, BillionGraves Blog
- 10 Cemeteries to See Before You Die, BillionGraves Blog
- 10 of the World's Most Beautiful Cemeteries, BillionGraves Blog