Visit Romania’s Merry Cemetery

The Merry Cemetery is a forest of beautifully worked, colorfully painted wooden grave markers carved with portraits of the deceased or scenes from their lives, inscribed with witty doggerel (in Romanian). Some are terse – “who sought money to amass, could not Death escape, alas!”. While a surprising number recall violent deaths, like that of the villager killed by a “bloody Hungarian” during World War II. Merry Cemetery is renowned for its colorful tombstones and poetic paintings, making it a popular attraction for those visiting Romania. The national tourist attraction is now considered an open-air museum and visitors are invited to see the beautiful tombstones and the thoughtful depictions of the people who were buried there. The epitaphs found in the cemetery are an attraction of their own and range in tone, with many being rather funny and amusing.

Located in Sapanta village, Maramures, just 4 hours' drive from Cluj Napoca, the Merry Cemetery is a national tourist attraction that is now considered an open-air museum and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Each tombstone at the Merry Cemetery is super colorful and it depicts different illustrations that show the life or character of the deceased person. The illustrations are accompanied by short amusing poems or pieces of text that add to the illustrations and offer the reader a useful life lesson but with a funny touch. One of the best things to do in Romania is to visit a cemetery with a happy and funny view of death: the Merry Cemetery in the village of Săpânța in the Maramures region.