Twelve kilometers north-west of Sighetul Marma■iei, ôThe Merry Cemeteryö in the commune of SπpΓn■a is unique in the world. It was established by the folk artist Ioan Stan Pπtra║ (1936û1977), who painted the wooden crosses and wrote on them humorous chronicles of the village. His disciples carry on this tradition and use the same techniques. This tradition is significant for the natural attitude of the Romanians towards death, which is deeply rooted in the Romanian mentality and is the result of many centuries of religious education.
Visited yearly by tens of thousands of tourists, the SπpΓn■a Cemetery has become an important ethnographic and folkloric center, supported by a group of villagers dedicated to the preservation of ancestral traditions.
