Practical Information
Forum Venue
MATENADARAN
The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts
Address: 53 Mashtots Avenue, Yerevan, RA
E-mail: contact@matenadaran.am
Web page: www.matenadaran.am
ABOUT MATENADARAN
Matenadaran – The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts is an incredibly rare and exclusive treasure due to its collection of manuscripts and the activity that it now exercises. It holds the history of Armenian and foreign nations’ written cultures.
The word “Matenadaran” means “holder of manuscripts,” or “manuscript collector”. Today, however, the Armenian public associates the word “Matenadaran” with the Armenain nation’s spiritual and cultural richness and pride, embodied in the structure of the manuscript repository.
The necessity of the existence of Matenadaran was recognized since the 5th century, when, after the creation of Armenian alphabet by Mesrop Mashtots, the first Armenian translations were made and historians began writing down the history of the Armenian people. In the same century, the first ever old seminary building, or “manuscript holder,” was made in Vagharshapat, near the Echmiadzin Catholicosate, about which Ghazar Parpetsi writes. Besides Echmiadzin, in Armenia’s other regions and other nations with large Armenian populations, thousands of manuscripts were written and copied, later kept in matenadarans of monasteries and convents.
The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, or the Matendaran, was created based on creating and preserving manuscripts of the miniature painting schools of the Echmiadzin Catholicosate, Armenia, and other nations. The Echmiadzin Matenadaran was transferred to Yerevan’s Public Library in 1939. To facilitate the safety and research of the manuscripts, the construction began in 1945 and finished in 1957, designed by architect Mark Grigoryan. Only 20 years later, on March 3, 1959, according to the decision of Armenian Government, the Matenadaran was reorganized into an institute of scientific research with special departments of scientific preservation, study, translation and publication of manuscripts. In 1962, the institute was named after Mesrop Mashtots.
The main building of the Matenadaran has grown to implement more exhibitions, functioning also as a museum complex. The former 2 exhibition halls have transformed into 12. A new side building, which has been operating since September 21, 2011, has been built for the scientific departments. The new structure was designed by architect Arthur Meschyan.
The Matenadaran has consolidated about 23,000 manuscripts, including almost all areas of ancient and medieval Armenian cultural and sciences – history, geography, grammar, philosophy, law, medicine, mathematics, cosmology, chronology, divination literature, translated and national literature, miniature painting, music and theater. The Matenadaran also holds manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Greek, Ethiopian, Syrian, Latin, Tamil, and other languages. Many originals, lost in their mother languages and known only by their Armenian translations, have been saved from loss by medieval translations. For more information about Matenadaran, please visit the official web page.