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Even though death is met with sadness in our culture, in the area of Maramures, in the north, in the village of Sapanta, and back in 1935, a tradition was started, which became the so-called Merry Cemetery. The year 1935 was when the first funny epitaph appeared on a cross, and, since the 1960s, the cemetery is sprinkled with over 800 such crosses, made of oak wood, becoming a veritable open air museum, a tourist attraction. Visitors here may notice that some crosses are painted on both sides. On one side there is a description of the life of the deceased, on the other a description of the cause of death. Most cross inscriptions are badly spelled on purpose, and some are in archaic or dialectal speech.
Today we are at the third generation of traditional craftsmen carrying on the tradition. We were told the story of this craft by Ana-Maria Stan, the daughter of Dumitru Pop-Tincu, who was the apprentice of Stan Ioan Patras, the first creator of t ....