Childhood memories from a forgotten village. They are not my memories, they are my wife's memories. I have only seen the present which is not at all good for the small village where she was born.
This is happening now in Romania. Villages, especially the most isolated ones, are depopulating. Young people have gone to the city to work, and lately, they have even left the country to find a better life.
The old people who remain in the villages are leaving one by one, but not for a better life. They simply leave this life. They leave and leave empty houses behind them. Only a few still live and work in these isolated places, once full of life, children, and joy...
People like my wife, who left the village many decades ago, come back here mostly when there is a funeral or commemoration of a relative.
The one in the photos is Gheorghe, my wife's cousin. He lives in the nearby town of Dej, but he likes to stay in his parent's old house in the village in summer. The house is almost buried in greenery. Here nature has a colossal power.
He also has some animals that he takes care of, of which he loves the horse the most!
As I said, here nature is unleashed and cannot be stopped. There's no one left. The gardens have been overgrown with grass, plants, and trees...
Wildlife pulsates, from wild boar to the tiniest insects. Luckily I've only encountered insects.
This village is in the north of Romania, in the north of Transylvania, 600 km away from the city where we live. We made this trip also for a commemoration. For Gheorghe's brother, Silvi, obviously a cousin of my wife.
The village cemetery is several hundred years old. The old graves are no longer visible, but neither are the more recent ones. All because of the vegetation that has no master and grows as it wants.
This visit to the cemetery brought my wife close to the old wooden church, as old as the cemetery, which is now a historical monument.
A monument as abandoned and forgotten as the village.
The church is built exclusively of wood, without the use of iron nails. Some of the joints can be seen below...
This is the church where my wife was baptized after she was born. It has a special meaning for her.
There were once three brothers: Gheorghe, Florica, and Silviu. My wife's three favorite cousins. Florica died first, three years ago. Silvi died second, two years ago and Gheorghe, the one in the photos above, died two weeks ago. RIP Gheorghe! I wrote this blog in memory of him (and the other two)...
Whenever I think of the past, when I photograph old and forgotten places, I want to recreate them in black and white. These photos were taken two years ago at Silvi's memorial
This is my entry for the #monomad challenge.
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