Yesterday came the puzzle of why there are so few cemeteries in Greece and why they are as common as Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in the United States. The one I visited yesterday in Agia Marina, the Church of Saint Marina Ilioupoleos, was extremely crowded, very much more so than any I ever saw in the U.S. (Ein Griechischer Friedhof mit Bilder (Deutsch und Englisch))
Something that had struck me previously in a cemetery in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, was that any gravestones more than about two hundred years old were illegible. Whether anyone anywhere had any idea who was in them is your guess. Whether there was ever anyone in them is your philosophy.
My friend observed that all of the Greek graves I saw yesterday were aboveground and this may be due to archaeological research as it is forbidden in many large areas to dig more than forty centimeters / fifteen inches into the ground. Therefore, no houses with basements and no underground graves.
However, there is an additional consideration regarding grave sites and crowding as the Greek Orthodox church believes the body must be preserved to permit resurrection and cremation was forbidden. It is legal today but, unless it was built recently, there is no crematorium in Greece.
The biggest consideration is that, as of 2011, the government mandated all graves must be recycled. After three years the body / bones must be removed to an ossuary or something of that nature such that the grave site can be used again. There are claims that a permanent grave can cost as much as €150,000. However, I observed dates well before 2010 on some of the grave sites yesterday so either these were all permanent grave sites or this church is ignoring the state mandate.
The larger problem is the lack of cemetery space and this applies to all of Europe. Recycling is more common than people realise and sometimes the answer is to remove the bones to an ossuary while another solution is to bury, after a suitable period of time, another coffin above a previous one.
My parents were cremated and yet the ashes were still interred in a wall in a cemetery:
I was the one to put the ashes in there and I might have been (i.e. was definitely) a little bit stoned and nearly dropped the urn. Fortunately I didn't but it would have been so funny. The whole thing is ridiculous as I know I'll never see that wall again and I doubt anyone else goes there much. There's no respect for my parents, they simply aren't in that wall. There isn't even a thin pretense that they could be as it's just dust. Nevertheless, it was my Mother's wish that this should be done and so it was.
Something I observed just across from this wall was quite another type of grave:
We leave it to the interested student to determine why anyone would want his memory preserved by a giant stone penis.
Even in America they will eventually run out of space for cemetery plots, particularly when people construct giant phallic symbols over them. Where this all goes remains to be seen but if you think there has been an argument over gay rights, you ain't seen nothin' yet! I recognise the impermanence of time and it's a blessing that I will not see that argument taking place. It will keep Facebook buzzing for years!
Something that had struck me previously in a cemetery in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, was that any gravestones more than about two hundred years old were illegible. Whether anyone anywhere had any idea who was in them is your guess. Whether there was ever anyone in them is your philosophy.
My friend observed that all of the Greek graves I saw yesterday were aboveground and this may be due to archaeological research as it is forbidden in many large areas to dig more than forty centimeters / fifteen inches into the ground. Therefore, no houses with basements and no underground graves.
However, there is an additional consideration regarding grave sites and crowding as the Greek Orthodox church believes the body must be preserved to permit resurrection and cremation was forbidden. It is legal today but, unless it was built recently, there is no crematorium in Greece.
The biggest consideration is that, as of 2011, the government mandated all graves must be recycled. After three years the body / bones must be removed to an ossuary or something of that nature such that the grave site can be used again. There are claims that a permanent grave can cost as much as €150,000. However, I observed dates well before 2010 on some of the grave sites yesterday so either these were all permanent grave sites or this church is ignoring the state mandate.
The larger problem is the lack of cemetery space and this applies to all of Europe. Recycling is more common than people realise and sometimes the answer is to remove the bones to an ossuary while another solution is to bury, after a suitable period of time, another coffin above a previous one.
My parents were cremated and yet the ashes were still interred in a wall in a cemetery:
I was the one to put the ashes in there and I might have been (i.e. was definitely) a little bit stoned and nearly dropped the urn. Fortunately I didn't but it would have been so funny. The whole thing is ridiculous as I know I'll never see that wall again and I doubt anyone else goes there much. There's no respect for my parents, they simply aren't in that wall. There isn't even a thin pretense that they could be as it's just dust. Nevertheless, it was my Mother's wish that this should be done and so it was.
Something I observed just across from this wall was quite another type of grave:
We leave it to the interested student to determine why anyone would want his memory preserved by a giant stone penis.
Even in America they will eventually run out of space for cemetery plots, particularly when people construct giant phallic symbols over them. Where this all goes remains to be seen but if you think there has been an argument over gay rights, you ain't seen nothin' yet! I recognise the impermanence of time and it's a blessing that I will not see that argument taking place. It will keep Facebook buzzing for years!
2 comments:
i like the idea of grave rotation and the style of each graves adornment. More a celebration of ones life rather than a grieving of thier death And your right that wall only served a purpose the day thry were interned I have never beem there When I need to talk to them I do.it in my butterfly or fairy gardens
Exactly. They're not in that wall. Nothing is!
I found the pictures on the Greek graves very touching in the same way as I was struck by the Greek Highway Monuments. There seems much more a focus on preserving memories than fossilising bodies, the latter of which I find singularly revolting.
Post a Comment