The authorities call on the people who go to cemeteries on Low Sunday to be dressed decently and to behave appropriately in a scared place, not to start fires in cemeteries and not to leave litter after them. The local administration of Chisinau adopted regulations concerning the functioning of cemeteries in the municipality of Chisinau in this regard.
Contacted by IPN, director of the municipal enterprise “Funeral services complex” Ludmila Botan said the people who go to the cemetery on Low Sunday must bear in mind that this is a spiritual holiday. “We go to cemeteries to remember our late relatives, to render homage to them and to light a candle in their memory. I don’t think it is right to go and stage a fashion show there,” she stated.
The people are urged not to leave food and disposable plates on graves as the enterprise’s employees have to clean up the cemeteries afterward. According to Ludmila Botan, the food left on graves attracts dogs and other animals. Candles or icon lamps should also not be left on graves as these can cause fires.
Ludmila Botan noted that barbecue meals at cemeteries were banned three years ago. Such meals were most often prepared by Roma people in the areas where they remembered their dead relatives. Though they gave up having barbecues, the people continue to bring food and alcoholic beverages to the cemeteries. Such a tradition started 10-15 years ago, when a higher number of Moldovans went abroad to work. Returning home for the holydays, they are eager to reunite with the relatives and have a meal at the cemetery.
According to the data provided by the municipal enterprise “Funeral services complex”, about 300,000 people come annually on Low Sunday to the 11 cemeteries located in the municipality of Chisinau.
