Stan Ioan Patras

In memoriam

Ever since I was a little boy Stan Ioan Patras was my name Listen to me, my good people Because I will tell no lie For as long as I lived I never wished anyone harm, Only good, as much as I could No matter for whom Oh this poor old world of mine Living through it was so hard Creator of the Merry Cemetery

Romanian wood sculptor, painter and poet. A woodcarver in the small village of Sapanta hidden in the valley of Maramures, Patras would wander through the streets of Sapanta observing the lives of his neighbors and taking notes. When they died, his colorful hand-carved crosses told the stories of their lives, and sometimes even how they died, through interesting epitaphs or poems. At his passing he had create several hundred hand-carved and painted crosses. Over 800 blue wooden crosses are crowded into this cemetery, immortalizing the people of his village with a colorful picture and a humorous poem written in a local dialect. His apprentice carries on his work.

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