Another place, not very pleasant through its functional purpose, but fascinating through the works of art it exhibits is the Bellu Cemetery from Bucharest. Emil Becker, Raffaello Romanelli, Frederic Storck, Oscar Han, Ion Mincu, Ion Georgescu, Dimitrie Paciurea, Ion Jalea, Corneliu Medrea, Milita Petrascu and Constantin Baranschi are some of the artists who contributed to this open air sculpture museum.

Until the half of the XIX the century, the people from Bucharest used to bury the dead in the churches’ courtyard. In 1852, the city council decided to establish a common cemetery outside the city and a wealthy Romanian nobleman, Barbu Bellu (1825-1900) donated a large garden he owned at the outskirts. The cemetery began functioning officially in 1858 and, in 1859, the Romanian politician C.A. Rosetti was the first person to buy a resting place here, for his daughter, Elena. In time, Bellu became the cemetery for the rich and the famous.

Many of the great Romanian poets and writers are resting here. People around Romania come to see and somehow be closer to those whose works have charmed their childhood and marked their education. There is a special alley for the artists, where there are the tombs of Mihail Sadoveanu, Ion Luca Caragiale or Mihai Eminescu, but there are many more spread around the cemetery. Mihai Eminescu’s tomb never lacks lit candles.

There are also other notorious monuments, not because of the fame of their residents, but because of the strange and tragic stories that surrounds them. The poet Bogdan Petriceicu-Hasdeu suffered enormously when his 19 years old daughter died, so he ordered a monument in her memory, executed by Ion Georgescu.

The crypt of the Poroineanu family, with its monument representing a young woman laid on a bed, mourned by a bearded man who sits next to her, attracts many people because of its story. It tells about two young men, brother and sister, who were separated when they were infants. The boy remained in Romania and the girl was sent to Paris. When the boy became an adult, he also went to Paris, for studies and, there, he met a very beautiful young woman. They shared a passionate love affair and even got married. But, when they returned to the country, they found out they were brothers and, in their despair, they put an end to their lives.

Another tragedy buried in the Bellu Cemetery is “The Lady with the Umbrella”. Some say that a very rich man from Bucharest fell deeply in love with a beautiful young woman and he took her as nanny for his children. His wife was so jealous that she killed her by putting poison in her food. The man was so affected that he ordered the sculptor Romanelli to carve her in real proportions.

 

Author: Iulian Fira