Săpânţa, RO

Merry Cemetery

The Merry Cemetery is a cemetery in the north of Romania famous for its colourful hand-painted wooden crosses, each with a painting and a poem in memory of the person buried below.

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The story of this one-of-a-kind cemetery started with Stan Ioan Pătraş, a resident of the small village of Sapanta. Stan Ioan Patras came from a family of woodcarvers. Combining his woodworking skills with his passion for painting and writing, he made his first crosses at the age of 14. This particular way of marking tombs become a tradition in the little Romanian village.

Today more than 800 hundred crosses make this cemetery one of the most singular open-air museums in Romania.

Other nearby buildings

Source: European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative

Bedevlya Jewish Cemetery

The period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. First, it appears on a cadastral map of 1863, but the earliest preserved tombstone relates to the first half of the 19th century. The fence was installed by ESJF in July 2016.

Source: European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative

Serednie Vodiane Jewish Cemetery

The period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. It appears on a cadastral map of 1860, but the earliest preserved gravestone dates from the first half of the 19th century. The fence was installed by ESJF in November 2016.

Source: European Jewish Cemeteries Initiative

Tereblya Jewish Cemetery

The exact period of the cemetery’s establishment is unknown. Since it was not marked on a cadastral map of 1865, most likely it appeared later. The earliest preserved gravestone relates to the end of the 19th century. The fence was installed by ESJF in September 2016.

Merry Cemetery

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Other nearby buildings

Bedevlya Jewish Cemetery

Serednie Vodiane Jewish Cemetery

Tereblya Jewish Cemetery

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