EXCERPT: Before a local dies, he or she picks a tree that will one day be felled to form his or her own marker. The residents also leave specific instructions with their chosen woodworker. The boat-shaped pieces of wood must meet a strict set of criteria: They must be made of oak, be between about five feet and 6.5 feet high, and face west.
Some of the oldest boat markers are located in a separate area which was once reserved for Romani Hungarians and the victims of suicide. The cemetery also contains the marble tombs of the Kölcsey family, including that of Ferenc Kölcsey, a Hungarian poet and politician who wrote the country’s national anthem and died in the village in 1838.
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Go to the site to see these strange boat shaped images.
