The site is officially signposted as Cheerful Cemetery. Throughout Romania, cemeteries have a special status. They are large, larger than in many other countries in comparably large communities. In the densely wooded Maramureş, this region in the north of the country, great craftsmanship has developed in the use of wood as a material. Wood carvings are an important tradition in the region. So it is not surprising that the woodcarver Stan Ion Pătraş at Săpânța had the idea to make graves even more individual. He began to paint the traditional wooden crosses and write little stories of the deceased on them in hearty rhymes. This is how the Cheerful Cemetery (Cimitirul Vesel) came into being in 1935. The texts are probably not only nice, some also name vices and misdemeanours. Some of the portraits are carved and painted, some only painted. On some crosses, the front and back are designed, e.g. as „good“ and „bad“ sides. Meanwhile, this cemetery has become world-famous and the village as well as the church community benefit from the visitors, as can be seen from the magnificent church in the midst of the graves.