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MAIERI CEMETERY
„HOLY TRINITY” ORTHODOX CHURCH OF MAIERI I
October 23, 2017
GREEK CHURCH OF THE „ANNUNCIATION”
October 23, 2017MAIERI CEMETERY
It was an old Orthodox cemetery located on the south-eastern corner of the fortress. It belonged to the former Mitropolitan Church during the time of Michael the Brave but when the church was demolished, the Romanian cemeteries used to be located near the churches built in the eighteenth century. However, in the years that followed, because of the urban development, all these proved to be scanty and the cemetery began to occupy a larger area on the current site.
A number of personalities for the history of the city Alba Iulia have found a resting place here: Ion Arion, nicknamed „the Martyr of the Union”, who was shot at the railway station in Teius on 30 November 1918, while coming to the Alba Iulia Assembly; Lawyer Rubin Patitia, political person and one of the signers of the Transylvanian Memorandum; Zaharie Munetan, the son-in-law of Rubin Patitia, sentenced to death in 1915 for work on behalf of the Romanian army (sentence not yet enforced); his wife, Elena Muntean, president of the Romanian Women’s Society in Alba Iulia; Florian Medrea, commander of the Romanian National Guard in Alba Iulia which guarded the city during the National Assembly on 1 December 1918, deceased under suspicious conditions in 1947, once the Communism came to power; his brother, Dominic Medrea, who established the sanitary service on 1 December 1918; Camil Velican, the first Romanian mayor of Alba Iulia; Samoilă Mârza, nicknamed the „Union’s Photographer”, the only man carrying a camera on 1 December 1918, and from whom there are six photographs left of the events of the Great National Assembly in Alba Iulia. Most of these graves are located in the center of the cemetery and, with few exceptions, the funerary monuments are modest.
In close proximity, in the north end, after the Second World War, a hero cemetery was set up, mostly with graves of Soviet soldiers and Romanians fallen during the war.
Scientific consultant: Tudor Roșu, PhD historian
Translation made by: Ciprian Dobra, PR expert
Maieri Cemetery in Alba Iulia is a place of rest for both ordinary people and notable personalities of the city. It is located in the south-eastern corner of the citadel, on the same place as the old Orthodox cemetery belonging to the former mitropoly during the time of Michael the Brave. After the demolition of the Church, along with the opening of the construction site of the Alba Carolina Citadel, Romanian cemeteries were located near the „Lower Town” churches built in the 18th century. Over the years and with urban development these cemeteries have become overcrowded, taking up more and more wider space in the current location.
In the Maieri cemetery, you will discover the funerary monuments of some of the personalities involved in the Union of Transylvania with Romania: Florian Medrea, Commander of the National Guard in Alba Iulia which provided protection during the National Assembly on December 1st, 1918; his brother, Dominic Medrea, who organized the sanitary service for the same event; Samoilă Mârza, known as „Union’s photographer”, the only person carrying a camera from the 100,000 Romanians who came to Alba Iulia on December 1, 1918 and who therefore left images of the Union; Ion Arion, „the martyr of the Union”, who was shot dead at the railway station in Teiuș on November 30th, 1918, while he was coming to attend the Great Assembly in Alba Iulia; Camil Velican, the first Romanian mayor of Alba Iulia.
Maieri cemetery is also the resting place for personalities from the Patitia family: Lawyer Rubin Patitia, a memorable leader and a political man; his son-in-law, Zaharie Muntean, who was sentenced to death in 1915, being accused for activity in the interest of the Romanian army – a sentence not yet carried out; and his wife, Elena Muntean, who led the Society of Romanian Women in Alba Iulia.
The funerary monuments mentioned are located in the central area of the cemetery and – with few exceptions – are modest.
North of the Maieri cemetery, there is the Hero’s Cemetery, set up after World War II. It mostly consists of graves of Soviet and Romanian soldiers fallen during the aforementioned conflagration.
