Going against the traditionally somber tones
of most graveyards, the "Merry Cemetery" in Sapanta, Romania has a slightly different feel -- it's filled with
roughly 800 bright, colorful grave markers.
The grave markers were created by a
carpenter named Ion Stan Patras in 1935. Patras carved the crosses
out of oak and painted them blue, sprinkling in bits of color like red, yellow or black,
depending on the deceased person's life. Instead of a straightforward description, the tombstones are filled with poignant, poetic epitaphs.
"It's the real life of a person. If he likes to drink, you say that; if he likes to work, you say that ... there's no hiding in a small town," said
Dumitru Pop, a poet and farmer who took over making the grave markers for Patras after his death in 1977. "The families actually want the true life of the person to be represented on the cross."
According to an older estimate, Pop
produces about 10 of the crosses each year. You can visit the "Merry Cemetery" to see his work by traveling to the
Maramures area of Romania. Entry to the cemetery is available
for about $1.
Romanians are not the only people that
mark death with bright colors, rather than funeral black or white. The
Mayan cemetery of Chichicastenango
in Guatemala is also vibrantly colored, filled with
bright pastels and intricate murals. Elsewhere in the Americas, Día de los Muertos
(Day of the Dead) is celebrated with lively music, colorful makeup and incredible outfits.
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Source: [url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/18/merry-cemetery_n_7306328.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news&ir=Weird+News]Welcome To The 'Merry Cemetery,' Perhaps The Most Colorful Graveyard In The World[/url]
