MERRY CEMETERY

The original character of the cemetery is first of

all suggested by its name: Cimitirul Vesel that
means The Merry Cemetery. This paradoxical
name is due to the vivid colors of the crosses
and the amusing or satirical epitaphs carved on
them. It is said that this joyful attitude towards
death is a legacy of the ancestors who believed
in the immortality of the soul and that death
was only a passage to a better life. They did not see death as a tragic end, but as a
chance to meet with the supreme god, Zalmoxis.
The cemetery dates back to the mid-1930s and is the creation of the local folk artist
Stan Ioan Patras, sculptor, painter and poet rolled in one. Patras used all his skills
to create this masterpiece. For half a century the master created hundreds of
wooden crosses, carved in a distinctive style, so famous today. After his death in
1977, his work has been carried out by his apprentice, Dumitru Pop Tincu

Underneath this heavy cross

Lies my mother-in-law poor
Had she lived three days more
I would be here and she would read
You that are passing by
Try not to ______her up
For if she ______back home
Shell bite my head off
But I will act in the way
That she will not _______
Stay _____my dear
Mother-in-_______

This is where I rest

Pop Grigore is my _________
I loved my tractor the most
And drowned my sorrows in the bottle
All my____ I was miserable and sad
Because my father left me when I was just a
_______
Maybe this was my fate
To die young
Death, you took me so young He died at 33
years old

I had a short childhood

It wasnt for me to live
My parents not to upset
It was my destiny to pass ________
To leave my sister alone
Dear sister, as long as you live
Please take _____of my grave
Put ______on it
And dont forget until you _____
That you had a good _____
Even though we couldnt be together
It was for me to die
And you to miss me