Travel Globally

Cheer up: The Merry Cemetery in Transylvania

Filed Under Romania

In Northern Transylvania (Romania), you will find a region  known for its unique touristic attractions. This region is called Maramures  and its important attractions are: The Merry Cemetery in Sapanta, The wooden churches (which  are now listed in the  UNESCO patrimony), the carved wooden gates and a glass of palinca – the eau de vie that will send you to death. Kidding.

I mentioned  “death” and  Maramures is the place that provides something unique in the world, they say: The Merry Cemetery. The cemetery was founded in the 1930s and now it contains about 800 crosses. It is an Orthodox cemetery with all the crosses painted in vivid colours with  naive portraits of the inhabitants below.

Apart from the portrait, each cross  also displays an epitaph which is written in verses  and tells a story about that person and a major episode in his/her life. The story is told  in a simple and funny way:  a man who was a womanizer,  a woman who  was killed by a taxi, another one who like alcohol  etc.   It is said that The Merry Cemetery is based on a Dacian (the ancient inhabitants of Romania)  belief that death was a reason of joy and being merry.

So if you thought that Transylvania is all about  bleakness and grey cemeteries, The Merry Cemetery would prove you  wrong.

What else you can do in Maramures is have a ride with mocanita. It is a narrow gauge railway with steam-powered locomotive, running in Vaser Valley, Maramures. Michael Palin also tried it in his “New Europe” voyages and he liked it.

The easiest way to get to Maramures is to land in Baia Mare (the seat of Maramures county), Cluj-Napoca or Targu Mures. Then is best to hire a car and drive. You can stay in a hotel or in various  houses that provide quite cheap accommodation.