moldoveanu

1. About Sapanta - presentation, information, pictures
-Săpânţa commune is situated on the right bank of Tisa near the Taraş Valley, close to the
confluence of the Săpânţa and Tisa rivers, in the extreme north of Romania, in the
Maramureş Country.
-The village is located about 18 km from Sighetu Marmatiei.
-The area of the commune is about 150 square km and includes meadow, terrace, hills​​
and mountains. The settlement is dominated by the Sapanta Stone an impressive
volcanic formation.
-Documentary attested around 1300, known in 1373 under the name "Zapancha",
Sapanta, part of the Maramures historian, can give its name after the poet John Ioan
Alexandru, from Latin sapientia (wisdom).

2. -On its territory there are bicarbonate, sodium, calcium,
chlorinated mineral springs with a high concentration of
bicarbonate ions. Local people use these waters to treat
gastritis, gastro-duodenal disease and cholecystitis (because
this carbon dioxide is removed by shaking).
-Local people in Sapanta are well-known in the area for
craftsmanship that are produced here and for popular
costumes. But Sapanta has become truly known in Romania
and abroad thanks to the Merry Cemetery of the locality.
-At present, Sapanta is one of the great and beautiful rural
communities of Maramures, attracting, in summer, a great
number of visitors from the country, from Europe and from far
away in Japan, the name Sapanta becoming a landmark in
geography world tourism

3. Tombstone sculptor and artist, he decided to move away from the traditional
way of carving wooden crosses. Being a simple, religious person who feared God,
he understood that death is part of life. This determined him to stop looking at
death with the rigidity we are used to.
The Merry Cemetery of Sapanța – Maramures is the best place to go if you
want to see the quality of the Romanian creative expression through wood
art.
It is believed that a cheerful attitude in front of death was a Dacian custom.
Dacias believed in life after death, death being just a gate into another world.
They did not regard death as a tragic end, but rather as an opportunity to meet
their god, Zamolxe.
In many areas of Romania, according to romanian tradition, the parting with
the dead is a joyful event. The wake is regarded as the last party where there
are present both the deceased and the living he left behind. With this
perspective in mind, Ioan Stan Patras tried to transpose into his work the
essence of the deceased’s life in a joyful way, thus making people accept death
more easily.