A Face Haz de Necaz

The Merry Cemetery of Romania

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This story was written for and published at RussiaToday.com in Spetember 2008.

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The Craftsman

"Life is beautiful, very beautiful! But in this place, even death after life does greatly please, thanks to you, craftsman! Thank you for this moment of truth."

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This passage is written in the golden book of craftsman Stan Ioan Patras (1908 - 1977), by Swiss Honore Bayard. Patras was a Romanian wood sculptor and the original creator of the fanciful tombstones of the Merry Cemeteryin Sapanta, Maramures County, Romania. At first, working mostly alone, he only carved about ten a year, because his methods, still practiced to this day, are painstaking: The oak is cut into beams and allowed to dry one to two years. They're then hewn into thick planks, arranged in stacks and dried for several more months. Only then does the sculptor begin his work. The geometric motifs and dedications are drawn and painted by hand, then the crosses are sculpted and painted "Sapanta blue" - a symbol of hope and freedom, inspired, Patras said, by the sky.

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A Tradition of Woodcarving

Stan Patras was born into a family with a long tradition of woodcarving. In his youth, Stan was attracted to sculpting, painting and poetry and started to sculpt oak crosses when he was fourteen. It was in 1935 that he began carving poems onto tombstones, written in first person style: Ironic poems, complete with grammatical errors, in the archaic language of the locals.

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The Merry Cemetery diverges from the typical European attitude of cemeteries and death as solemn and serious places and occasions. And because of the tradition of Stan Patras, the Merry Cemetery, although still a place of prayer and to be with deceased loved ones, is far from solemn. The grave sites are planted with bright flowers and the headstones themselves rise up like big blue floral arrangements. The paintings and epitaphs are typically written with humor (and not always, it would seem, flattering) and still in the first person, as if narrated by the deceased themselves - as Patras did for his own tombstone, of which he designed and sculpted himself. Dumitru Pop, whom studied with Patras since the age of nine, now does the bulk of the carving, along with other students.

When Patras died, he left his home to Dumitru who chose to live there, then later turned it into a workshop and museum.

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The Celebration of Life

The residents of Sapanta strictly adhere to the traditions of the Orthodox religion, and it is an honor to be part of the church committee. On Sunday everyone, young and old alike, dress in national costume and put aside their differences, making ready for the days joyful festivities. To the Romanian peasant, death is not to be grieved or feared, but celebrated as the passing - by way of the cross as the gateway - to a place of eternal peace.

Much like the Irish Wake, the relatives of the deceased in the Merry Cemetery do not mourn. They drink and make merry, celebrating the life of the loved one. The entire life of the village is featured in this whimsical cemetery: the musician, the doctor, the drunk, the housewife. All rest eternally, side by side, in joyous peace.

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"a face haz de necaz"

-Make fun of Trouble

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