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Top 10 Fascinating Facts about National Matenadaran of Armenia

 It is a museum, repository of manuscripts, and a research institute in Yerevan, Armenia. It is also the world’s largest repository of Armenian manuscripts. It was established in 1959 as part of the nationalized collection of the Armenian Church, formerly held at Etchmiadzin. The collection owes its expansion to individual donations.

It stands as one of the most prominent landmarks of Yerevan, and is named after Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet, whose statue stands in front of the building.

1. It Means Repository Or Library Of Manuscripts

The word matenadaran is a combination of matean (“book” or “parchment”) and daran (“repository”) and is of Middle Persian (Pahlavi) origin.

Though it is sometimes translated as “scriptorium” in English, a more accurate translation is “repository or library of manuscripts.” In medieval Armenia, the term matenadaran was used in the sense of a library as all books were manuscripts.

2. The Earliest Recorded Manuscript Was By Historian Ghazar Parpetsi

The earliest mention of a manuscript repository in Armenia was recorded in the writings of the fifth century historian Ghazar Parpetsi, who noted the existence of such a repository at the Etchmiadzin catholicosate in Vagharshapat, where Greek and Armenian language texts were kept.

They existed at major monasteries in medieval Armenia, such as at Haghpat (Haghpat matenadaran), Sanahin, Saghmosavank, Tatev, Geghard, Kecharis, Hromkla, and Bardzraberd.

3.  An “Institute Of Scientific Research With Special Departments Was Established

Whereas Armenia was the center of a frequent war between two major powers, the Matenadaran in Etchmiadzin was destroyed several times up to 1804, during the Russo-Persian War. Eastern Armenia’s annexation by the Russian Empire in the early 19th century provided a more stable climate for the preservation of manuscripts.

 Between 1828 and 1863, the curators of the Matenadaran reported an increase in collection from 1,809 to 2,340 manuscripts. By 1892 they had collected 3,338 manuscripts. Prior to World War I, in 1914, the collection had reached 4,660 manuscripts. The collection was sent to Moscow for safekeeping since Etchmiadzin was close to the war zone.

In 1939 the entire 9,382 cataloged manuscripts of Etchmiadzin were transferred to the State Public Library in Yerevan (what later became the National Library of Armenia) by the decision of the Soviet Armenian government. Later, the Council of Ministers of Soviet Armenian officially established the Matenadaran as an “institute of scientific research with special departments of scientific preservation, study, translation and publication of manuscripts in a new building.  It was named after Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet, in 1962.

4. It Is Listed As A National Monument By The Government

The Matenadaran itself is located at the foot of a small hill on the northern edge of Mashtots Avenue, the widest road in Armenia. It has been variously described as monumental. Lottman called it “solemn and solid-looking.” Soviet travel writer Nikolai Mikhailov noted that “In its dimensions and architecture it is a palace.” It was therefore listed as a national monument by the government of Armenia.

5. The New Building Of The Matenadaran Was Designed By Arthur Meschian

The new building of the Matenadaran was designed by Arthur Meschian, an architect better known as a musician, to house the increasing number of manuscripts.  A five-story building, it is three times larger than the old one. It is equipped with a high-tech laboratory, where manuscripts are preserved, restored and digitized.

6. Currently, The Matenadaran Contains A Total Of Some 23,000 Manuscripts And Scrolls

Currently, the Matenadaran contains a total of some 23,000 manuscripts and scrolls鈥攊ncluding fragments. It is, by far, the single largest collection of Armenian manuscripts in the world. Furthermore, over 500,000 documents such as imperial and decrees of catholicoi, various documents related to Armenian studies, and archival periodicals.

 The manuscripts cover a wide array of subjects: religious and theological works (Gospels, Bibles, lectionaries, psalters, hymnals, homilies, and liturgical books), texts on history, mathematics, geography, astronomy, cosmology, philosophy, jurisprudence, medicine, alchemy, astrology, music, grammar, rhetoric, philology, pedagogy, collections of poetry, literary texts, and translations from Greek and Syriac.

 The writings of classical and medieval historians Movses Khorenatsi, Yeghishe and Koryun are also preserved here, as are the legal, philosophical and theological writings of other notable Armenian figures. The preserved writings of Grigor Narekatsi and Nerses Shnorhali at the Matenadaran form the cornerstone of medieval Armenian literature.

7. It Features Some of The Most Significant manuscripts of Medieval Times

Among the most significant manuscripts of the Matenadaran are the Lazarian Gospel (9th century), the Echmiadzin Gospel (10th century) and the Mughni Gospel (11th century). The first, so called because it was brought from the Lazarian Institute, is from 887 and is one of the Matenadaran’s oldest complete volumes.

 The Echmiadzin Gospel, dated 989, has a 6th-century, probably Byzantine, carved ivory cover. The Cilician illuminated manuscripts by Toros Roslin (13th century) and Sargis Pitsak (14th century), two prominent masters, are also held with high esteem.

8. The First Complete Catalog Of The Matenadaran Manuscripts Was Published In Two Volumes

The first complete catalog of the Matenadaran manuscripts was published in two volumes in 1965 and 1970 with a supplementary volume in 2007. These three volumes listed 11,100 manuscripts kept at the Matenadaran with short descriptions.

 Since 1984, an updated catalog has been published, titled The Main List of Armenian Manuscripts. As of 2019, ten volumes had been published.

9. The Collection Has Also Been Inscribed By UNESCO

The Matenadaran collection was inscribed by the UNESCO into the Memory of the World Register in 1997, recognizing it as a valuable collection of international significance.  American diplomat John Brady Kiesling described the Matenadaran as a “world-class museum.”

10. It Is A Must See For Tourists And Foreign Dignitaries

The Matenadaran has become one of the landmarks and major touristic attractions of Yerevan since its establishment.  In 2016 it received some 89,000 visitors, and around 132,600 in 2019.

Many foreign dignitaries have visited the Matenadaran, including Leonid Brezhnev (1970), Indira Gandhi (1976), Charles, Prince of Wales (2013), Vladimir Putin (2001), Sirindhorn (2018), Boris Tadi膰 (2009),[83] Sergio Mattarella, Jos茅 Manuel Barroso (2012), Bronis艂aw Komorowski, Heinz Fischer, Valdis Zatlers, Rumen Radev, and others.