Sighet’s two outstanding landmarks are the prison museum (1997) and the childhood home of Elie Wiesel (2002). The Sighet prison was notorious during communism for its severe mistreatment of about 180 political prisoners held here between 1948 and 1952. These most feared intellectual opponents were given 700 calories a day often dying of starvation. The memorial plaque reads "in memory of the young, intelligent people at the forefront of Romanian intellectual life who were imprisoned because they did not believe in communism and died, through torture, in this odious prison." Elie Wiesel, 1986 Noble Peace Prize winner and writer who coined the term “Holocaust” was born in Sighet (and later deported from here).
The town is fairly pleasant and has a well-stocked supermarket for the road traveler--Artima. We were happy to find bottled water, cheeses, fruits and vegetables for plenty of picnics. We also observed more US license plates here than anywhere else in the country! A good number of Romanians who had emigrated to the US return for vacations and holidays, oftentimes bringing their prized vehicles with them.
Our next stop was Sapanta known for its “Merry Cemetery.” The church’s graveyard is famous for its colorfully painted wooden crosses sharing the deceased story of life and death. Ioan Patras began painting the crosses blue (color of hope and freedom) and adding witty epitaphs in 1935. He even carved and painted his own cross which marks his tomb (1977). The crosses paint a representative picture of the region’s occupations – farmers, mothers, shepherds, weavers, barbers, forest workers, teachers, and soldiers. His apprentice, Dumitru Pop carries on the tradition of making crosses for those villagers who pass – in Patras’ former house and workshop.
Yet the rest of the village doesn’t seem to notice the constant flow of tourists marveling at these unique crosses and carries on with its traditions of weaving, embroidering and living. We enjoyed a conversation with an older man who shared his advice for a long, simple life and inquired about us. He recommended we visit the nearby monastery which boasts the tallest wooden church in Europe and is still in the building process.
While gazing up the 75 meter spire and admiring the magnificent wood carvings and impressive structure, we met Alex from Suceava visiting the Sapanta monastery with his father. Alex is 23 years old and, not uncommon for his age and gender, works much of the year out of the country in Western Europe. His brother is a monk at one of the monasteries in Bucovina. A neat guy with a really neat story.
From Sapanta, we stopped to photograph an interesting modern Catholic Church enroute back to Sighet and caught a man’s attention who inquired about the motorcycle. These interactions remind us how special Romania’s people are--curious, social, engaging and always ready with a story. - BGR & HSR
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