Matendaran: Institute of Ancient Manuscripts
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The Yerevan Matenadaran is the world's richest depository of medieval manuscripts and books. Manuscripts and books in Armenian and many other languages cover a wide range of subjects, including history, philosophy, medicine, literature, art history and cosmography. The origins of the Matenadaran - which translates from Armenian as „manuscript repository" - date back to the 5th century. Over centuries, the depository travelled from location to location, suffered great losses and was repeatedly sacked; in 1939, it was moved to Yerevan. In 1957, the Matendaran found new home in a specially designed magnificent building; a number of statues depicting prominent Armenian intellectuals was later added to its exterior. In 2009, a decision was made to expand the Matenadaran, adding an adjacent building of a research institute; it is scheduled for completion by 2011. To date, the Matenadaran collection comprises some 17 000 manuscripts and 30 000 other documents in many languages, covering a diversity of subjects. In 1997, the collection was included in the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme Register. The collection's greatest gems include Gospels dating from 10th and 11th centuries and a 15th-century 632-page calf skin calendar, discovered during World War One by two women in an Armenian monastery in the Ottoman Empire: the manuscript was too heavy to carry and was divided into two; one half was buried, the other - taken to Georgia. The first half was found a few years later by a Polish officer who sold it to a fellow military man in Baku. It was many years later that the manuscript was finally brought to Armenia and both halves were reattached.
53 Mesrop Mashtots Avenue
Posted 03/2010
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