It’s a few days before Halloween which conjure up all sorts of macabre images, especially those of creepy cemeteries. I am not one of those people who are repelled by the thought of cemeteries and I am sure I have mentioned my fondness for cemeteries on this blog.
I’ve always been attracted to the peacefulness of them, the shape of the stones and the names inscribed on them. I try to imagine the lives behind those stones and names, trying to somehow connect with their essence. I even speak to them sometimes, especially those that I know or those who have become my favorites in the cemeteries where we regularly walk. For instance, I always say hello to one couple with what I consider wonderful names– Arthur and Flora Greengrow.
Grim Reaper Figure at Base of Tombstone
While many of us here are scared a bit by cemeteries, there are place where that is not the case. There is, for example, Merry Cemetery in Sapanta, Romania. It is filled with brightly colored wooden tombstones that are carved with a sometimes humorous limerick and naively painted images depicting the deceased at work or play . Sometimes, however, the stones show how the person died. These images can be a bit gruesome but even then there is a lightness about the tombstone. You see, they are aligned with the Dacian culture which is associated with the Zalmoxian religion which has a differing view on death compared to most, seeing it as a moment of great joy filled with the anticipation of the better life that is waiting.
With the bright blue tombstones and descriptive and often humorous limericks ( there is a very funny one about a woman where the voice of the limerick is her son-in-law who hopes she is happy now because he doesn’t want her back), Merry Cemetery has become a worldwide tourist attraction with crowds traveling to see the 800-some tombstones. I guess it’s always a Happy Halloween in Sapanta.
Here a few views of some of the tombstones:
Merry Cemetery Tombstones Romania
Tombstones with a boy drowning and a girl being hit by car
Young Man being hit by train
Decapitation Tombstone From WW II Era
Top of Tombstones, Merry Cemetery
Redtree Times 