The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts also known as Matenadaran is a depository of ancient manuscripts and has one of the biggest collections in Armenia. It was founded in 1959 and located in Yerevan. The Museum's complex is located in the institute’s old, original building which started with a single exhibition hall, but now has fifteen halls with lots of exhibits. At Matenadaran, visitors have the chance to see manuscripts, individual miniatures, documents, and old books.
The exhibition of the Central Hall is dedicated to the development of Armenian medieval sciences, literature, and arts throughout the centuries. It presents the Armenian culture started from the creation of the alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots in 405 AD to the 18th century.
The repository contains more than 17,000 manuscripts, 450,000 documents, and 3,000 ancient books. The oldest manuscript is the “Vehamor Avetaran” dated from the 8th century. Here you will see the biggest Armenian book “Msho Charyntir” (weighs 28 kg) and the smallest book (190g).
The Armenian manuscripts are rich with beautiful and colorful miniatures; the colors have maintained their brilliance over centuries. The miniatures were made using natural colors. For instance, the color red was obtained from a small red insect (Vordan Karmir).
The museum also presents old Armenian works of medieval science, art, and Armenian miniature painting. The exhibits include the survived manuscripts from the Genocide, miniature painting from the Schools of Bardzr Haik (Upper Armenia), Cilician Armenia, the Crimea, Constantinople, and others. There is also the Artsakh exhibition hall which presents the miniature works of the Artsakh School.
In the collection hall of Mush and Karin are presented the survived manuscripts from different parts of Armenia. The most famous manuscripts are "Msho Charentir" (Homilies of Mush) and “Zeytun Gospel”, miniature manuscripts of Cilician School. The exhibition also includes digital copies of numerous manuscripts shown by the electronic monitors on the wall.
There is also the Medieval Medicine exhibition hall which presents the manuscripts of medical books that have historical as well as modern and practical significance.
The exhibition of Archival valuable documents is devoted to the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in which many documents are exhibited for the first time.
Matendaran is not only a depository of ancient manuscripts but is also a well-known Research and Cultural Center. So, if you want to know more about Armenian language and manuscripts, this is the
place to go!
The beautiful building of Matenadaran is located at Mashtots Avenue 53 (Yerevan).
