The Merry Cemetery in Sapanta

About

The Merry Cemetery in Sapanta was single-handedly started by local cross-carver-cum-artist Stan Ioan Pătraş. After simply carving crosses for about a decade, Pătraş began adding clever or ironic poems, and vibrant paintings of the deceased - often involving the manner of their death in the image. After Pătraş died in 1977, his most talented apprentice, Dumitru Pop, continued the tradition, and today there are over 700 colorful crosses at the Merry Cemetery. The town appreciates the candor of the crosses, with the poem for the town drunk reading “Ioan Toaderu loved horses. One more thing he loved very much. To sit at a table in a bar. Next to someone else’s wife”. You’ll also be able to find Pătraş’ own cross, which says that he began making the crosses because he loved people, and he still wanted to have people come and visit him, even after he died.