Matenadaran (Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts)

The Matenadaran, formally the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, stands at 53 Mashtots Avenue at the head of the avenue in central Yerevan, Armenia. It is one of the world's richest repositories of medieval manuscripts and the national centre for the study of Armenian written heritage. The severe basalt building opened in the 1950s and is fronted by a large statue of Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet, with his pupil Koriun at his side, and by statues of notable Armenian scholars and writers along the terrace. Inside, the museum displays illuminated gospels, medical and scientific treatises, historical chronicles and translations from Greek and Syriac, in dimly lit cases that protect the ink and parchment. The collection holds many thousands of manuscripts and a large number of fragments, and the museum also shows the tools and materials used to make them, including pigments, bindings and parchment. Visitors can join a guided tour in several languages, which is the most useful way to understand the context, since labels are brief. A visit usually takes one and a half to two hours. Weekday mornings are generally quietest, before tour groups arrive, and the Mashtots terrace outside is pleasant for photographs of the facade and the city below. The Matenadaran is a short taxi ride or a steady uphill walk from Republic Square, and the Victory Park and Mother Armenia monument lie a little further up the slope, so the two are often combined in a single half day. Modest, quiet behaviour is expected inside because the exhibits are fragile and sensitive to light.