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The Matenadaran (), officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, is a museum, repository of , and a research institute in Yerevan, Armenia. It is the world's largest repository of Armenian manuscripts.Abgarian, G.(1960) "Unfamiliar Libraries VI: The Matenadaran at Erevan." The Book Collector 9 no.2 (summer):146-150.
It was established in 1959 on the basis of the nationalized collection of the Armenian Church, formerly held at Etchmiadzin. Its collection has gradually expanded since its establishment, mostly from individual donations. One of the most prominent landmarks of Yerevan, it is named after Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet, whose statue stands in front of the building. Its collection is included in the register of the UNESCO Memory of the World program.
Some Armenian manuscript repositories around the world are still known as matenadaran, such as the ones at the Mekhitarists monastery in San Lazzaro, Venice and the Armenian Patriarchate of Constantinople, and the Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Manuscript Depository at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. To distinguish it from others, it is often referred to as the Matenadaran of Yerevan, the Yerevan Matenadaran, (2025). 9780814330234, Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814330234 or the Mashtots Matenadaran (1995). 9780802848246, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 9780802848246 (2025). 9781904832379, Chester Beatty Library. ISBN 9781904832379 (Մաշտոցյան Մատենադարան).
Thousands of Armenian manuscripts were destroyed during the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, but around 1,600 were saved from Vaspurakan (Lim, Ktuts monastery, Varagavank), Taron (Surb Karapet Monastery), Erzurum (Sanasarian College), and elsewhere.
In 1939 the entire collection of 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. In the same year there were 9,382 catalogued manuscripts at the Matenadaran.
On March 3, 1959, the Council of Ministers of Soviet Armenia officially established the Matenadaran as an "institute of scientific research with special departments of scientific preservation, study, translation and publication of manuscripts" in the current building. It was named after Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet, in 1962. It had the distinction of being the first institute (and building) in the entire Soviet Union established for the study and preservation of manuscripts. During his 1970 visit to Armenia, speaking about the Matenadaran, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev declared that Sovietization "saved the ancient culture of the Armenian nation, the victory of socialism revived the spiritual life of this talented people, created the best conditions for its comprehensive flourishing."
A branch of the Matenadaran was established next to the monastery of Gandzasar in the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) in 2015. It contained copies of hundreds of manuscripts. It ceased operations following the Azerbaijani takeover and the forced exodus of Armenians in September 2023.
It is a national monument of Armenia.
Yerevan's chief architect Mark Grigorian was commissioned by the Soviet Armenian authorities to design it in October 1939, almost immediately after the manuscripts were decided to be transferred to Yerevan. Interrupted by the Great Patriotic War, he completed the design by November 1944, when his sketches were first publicly displayed. Despite accusations of nationalism, its design was endorsed by the Soviet Armenian leader Grigory Arutinov, while academician Joseph Orbeli proposed its location. Its construction lasted from 1945 to 1957–58, with a pause from 1947 to 1953 due to a shortage of skilled laborers. German prisoners of war dug the excavation for the building and laid its foundation. Its interior decoration was completed between 1957 and 1959.
Faced with local gray basalt, its design is influenced by medieval Armenian architecture. Grigorian believed that the "attractive features of national architecture should be expressed in this building as vividly and strongly as possible." Its rectangular façade is inspired by the eastern façade of the 12th century southern gavit (narthex) of the Church of the Holy Apostles (Arakelots) of Ani, the grand capital of Bagratid Armenia. Although he initially cited the southern gavit of the Church of the Apostles as an inspiration, Grigorian later argued that the façade design—a tall central entrance flanked by two decorative niches on both sides—has older roots, appearing on the Temple of Edfu, and then at Ani's Apostles Church and the Baron's Palace that also incorporate a decorative frame. Its shallow niches have been likened to those of Geghard (2025). 9781107016521, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107016521 and St. Hripsime. (
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The building was most recently renovated in 2012.
A triptych of Renaissance-inspired murals, created by Van Khachatur in 1959, depict three periods of Armenian history—Urartu, Hellenism, and the Christian Middle Ages—surrounding the steps leading to the main exhibition hall. A mosaic inspired by medieval Armenian art, created by Khachatur in 1960, depicts the Battle of Avarayr (451) and is located in the entrance hall. A large ivory medallion with a diameter of with the portrait of Vladimir Lenin by Sergey Merkurov was previously hung in the lecture hall. In the 1970s, the Matenadaran was one of the few places in Soviet Armenia with air conditioning.
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Artsvin Grigoryan and Martin Tovmasyan commended the façade's "refined plasticity", noting how "classical variations in forms and proportions" create a "harmonious rhythm in the otherwise solid stone wall." They were, however, critical of what they described as "the deliberate archaization of the interior forms." They also found the "unsuccessful harmony between the building's volume and the slope, with its diagonal alignment seemingly cutting into the natural environment, disappointing."
Varazdat Harutyunyan suggested that Grigorian borrowed from Armenian architecture traditions "somewhat mechanically," adapting forms from medieval Armenian monuments "almost without alteration." Yuri Yaralov was even more critical, describing the building as "an example of an uncritical use of ancient forms in a modern structure" and calling it "a regrettable failure." According to Yaralov, Grigorian's near-direct replication of elements from 11th-13th century Armenian refectories and gavits transformed the building's interior into "a museum of historical forms, detaching visitors from the present and recreating the atmosphere of a distant medieval period."
In contrast to the critiques from architectural specialists, a range of lay opinions have expressed admiration for the building. Lionel Daiches found it "noble in design" and endowed with "great architectural dignity." A decade after its completion, Andrei Bitov described it as the most remarkable piece of modern Armenian architecture.originally published in «Уроки Армении» 1969; Herbert Lottman called it solemn and solid-looking, while Levon Abrahamian characterized it as "orderly" and "imposing". Vartan Gregorian suggested that it is "perhaps by design, the most imposing building in Yerevan." (2025). 9781439129111, Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781439129111 Rouben Paul Adalian suggested that it was "designed as a modern temple to Armenian civilization." Several authors have likened its appearance that of a temple or a church, while others have drawn parallels to a palace, especially in its style and proportions. (1988). 9785010017941, Progress Publishers. ISBN 9785010017941
(Arsham Shahinyan, 1967)
File:2014 Erywań, Matenadaran (10).jpg|Grigor Tatevatsi
(Adibek Grigoryan, 1967)
File:2014 Erywań, Matenadaran (07).jpg|Anania Shirakatsi
(Grigor Badalyan, 1963)
File:2014 Erywań, Matenadaran (06).jpg|Movses Khorenatsi
(Yerem Vardanyan, 1964)
File:2014 Erywań, Matenadaran (08).jpg|Mkhitar Gosh
(Ghukas Chubaryan, 1967)
File:2014 Erywań, Matenadaran (09).jpg|Frik
(Suren Nazaryan, 1967)
The idea was revived in 2008. Its Cornerstone was laid in a ceremony attended by President Serzh Sargsyan and officiated by Catholicos Karekin II on May 14, 2009. (
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> archived PDF) It received funding from Moscow-based Armenian businessman Sergei Hambartsumian ($10 million) and Maxim Hakobian, director of the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine ($4 million), and was inaugurated on September 20, 2011, on the eve of celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence in attendance of President Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicoi Karekin II of Etchmiadzin and Aram I of Cilicia, Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan, and others.
This five-story structure surpasses the size of its predecessor, providing three times the space with . One of its features is a state-of-the-art laboratory, dedicated to the preservation, restoration, and digitization of the manuscripts. Meschian's design seamlessly extends the legacy of the old structure without overshadowing it. Like Grigoryan, he incorporated traditional Armenian architecture into its design.
Mikhail Tikhomirov wrote in 1961, two years after its establishment, that it attracts a large number of tourists. By the mid-1970s, 40 to 50,000 visited the museum annually. It attracted some 89,000 visitors in 2016, and around 132,600 in 2019. Many foreign dignitaries have visited the Matenadaran, including Leonid Brezhnev (1970), Indira Gandhi (1976), Ilia II of Georgia (1978), (
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> archived PDF) Vladimir Putin (2001), José Manuel Barroso (2012), Charles III (2013).
The manuscripts previously held at Etchmiadzin constitute the core of the Matenadaran collection. The rest came from the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages in Moscow, the Nersisian School and the Armenian Ethnographic Society, both in Tbilisi, and the Yerevan Museum of Literature.
When it was established as a distinct institution in 1959, the Matenadaran had around 10,000 Armenian manuscripts and 4,000 fragments (partial volumes or isolated pages) dating as early as the 5th century. At the time there were some one thousand manuscripts in other languages, such as Persian, Syriac, Arabic, Greek, Georgian, Russian, Hebrew, Hindi, Tamil language, Latin, Ethiopic (Geʽez), and other languages. Some originals, written in other languages, have been saved only in their Armenian translations.
There has been steady growth in the number of manuscripts preserved at the Matenadaran, mostly from gifts from private individuals from the Armenian diaspora. In 1972 there were already 12,960 Armenian manuscripts and nearly two thousand manuscripts in other languages. Among the major donors of the Matenadaran include Harutiun Hazarian from New York (397 manuscripts), Varouzhan Salatian from Damascus (150 manuscripts), Rafael Markossian from Paris (37 manuscripts). Rouben Galichian from London has donated old maps. In 1969 Tachat Markossian, 95, from the village of Gharghan, near Isfahan, in central Iran, donated a 1069 manuscript to the Matenadaran. Written at Narekavank monastery, it is a copy of a Gospel written by Mashtots.
Three manuscripts are allowed to leave the Matenadaran on a regular basis. The first is the , donated to the Matenadaran by Catholicos Vazgen I in 1975. It probably dates to the 7th century and is, thus, the oldest complete extant Armenian manuscript. The name refers to the mother of the Catholicos ( vehamayr), to whose memory Vazgen I dedicated the manuscript. Since Levon Ter-Petrosyan in 1991, all president of Armenia have given their oath on this book. The other two, the Shurishkani Gospel (1498, Vaspurakan) and the Shukhonts' Gospel (1669) are taken to the churches of Mughni and Oshakan every year to be venerated.
target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> archived PDF) and Robert H. Hewsen commended its high quality of scholarship.
According to Nora Dudwick, in the Soviet period, the Matenadaran "symbolized the central values of Armenian culture and to Armenians the high level of culture and learning their ancestors achieved as early as the fifth century." Thomas de Waal notes that alongside several other institutions (e.g. the Opera, National Gallery) the Matenadaran was central in the Soviet efforts to make Yerevan a "repository of Armenian myths and hopes." Levon Abrahamian argues that the secular Matenadaran continued the traditions of medieval monasteries within an state atheism.
Patrick Donabédian and Claude Mutafian characterized it as a "modern, secular, and urban monastery." Gevorg Emin called it the "chief temple" of Armenian manuscripts, while Silva Kaputikyan suggested that it "evokes the same reverent feeling" as Saint Hripsime Church and the monastery of Geghard. Abrahamian suggests that the Matenadaran has become a sanctuary and temple for Armenians, where manuscripts are treated not only with scientific respect, but also adoration. An American delegation headed by Glenn T. Seaborg that visited in 1971 noted the "loving care with which the people obviously regarded" the "tremendous wealth" of the Matenadaran.
Karen Demirchyan, the Soviet Armenian leader, stressed that there was no longer a necessity to safeguard Armenian books and manuscripts from potential destruction through constant migrations, as they were safeguarded at the Matenadaran, which he called the "temple of priceless creations of the people's mind and talent." Soviet librarian Yuri Grikhanov called it "perhaps the most unique manuscript repository in the world", while Tadevos Hakobyan compared its essence to that of the Library of Alexandria, noting that both served not only as book repositories but also as museums and centers of science. The Communist Party's official newspaper, Pravda, wrote that no educated Soviet citizen can "imagine spiritual life without the capital's Tretyakov Gallery, the Leningrad Hermitage, and the Yerevan Matenadaran." ( archived)
In post-Soviet Armenia, it appeared on a 1,000 Armenian dram banknote circulated from 1994 to 2004. Additionally, it was depicted on uncirculated commemorative coins in 2002 (gold) and 2007 (silver), as well as on a stamp issued in 2007. In 2015 the Central Bank of Russia issued a silver commemorative coin dedicated to the Eurasian Economic Union, which depicted symbols of the capitals of the member states, including the Matenadaran.
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