Chisinau local authorities gear up cemeteries for Paschal Holidays

The Chisinau local authorities tidy up the cemeteries, and promise to end the works till the Easter of the Dead. This holiday is marked on the second Monday after Easter, as the Moldovans go to graveyards as if to celebrate Easter with their dead relatives, Info-Prim Neo reports. Deputy mayor Vlad Cotet states most of the cemeteries are in a deplorable state. A special and delicate situation emerged as to the cemetery on Decebal street in Chisinau, where Romanian soldiers, dead in the Second World War, are buried. It is not managed by the municipality, yet the Government ordered the local administration to repair and clean up that cemetery, too. General mayor Dorin Chirtoaca says he got a request from the Office for the Cult of Heroes from Romania to prepare the cemetery on Decebal street, too. According to Dorin Chirtoaca, the graveyard should return into the ownership of the municipality. After the legal state is cleared up, money will be allocated for repairs. The head of the Funeral Services Office of Chisinau, Vadim Cojusneanu, says a new entrance has to be made at the St. Lazarus cemetery, as the flow of people is too intense. Last year, this cemetery – believed by some to be the largest in Europe – was visited by about 600,000 people on Easter of the Dead.