Matenadaran
The Matenadaran, officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, is the largest center for the storage, study and popularization of Armenian manuscripts, combining the functions of a museum, archive and scientific institution. It is holds the most extensive collection of Armenian manuscripts in existence.
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.
Name
The word matenadaran is a compound composed of matean, and daran. Both words are of Middle Persian 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 handwritten.Some Armenian manuscript repositories around the world are still known as matenadaran, such as the ones at the Mekhitarist 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, or the Mashtots Matenadaran.
History
Historic predecessors
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, the center of the Armenian Apostolic Church, where Greek and Armenian language texts were kept. Manuscript repositories existed at major monasteries in medieval Armenia, such as at Haghpat, Sanahin, Saghmosavank, Tatev, Geghard, Kecharis, Hromkla, and Bardzraberd. In some cases, monastic complexes have separate structures as manuscript repositories. Sometimes manuscripts would be transferred to caves to avoid destruction by foreign invaders. Thousands of manuscripts in Armenia were destroyed over the course of the tenth to fifteenth centuries during the Turkic and Mongol invasions. According to the medieval Armenian historian Stepanos Orbelian, the Seljuk Turks were responsible for the burning of over 10,000 Armenian manuscripts in Baghaberd in 1170.Background
The Matenadaran collection has its roots in the Etchmiadzin collection set up in 1441, when the Catholicosate returned from Sis in Cilicia. The Matenadaran at Etchmiadzin was pillaged several times, the last of which took place in 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 the remaining manuscripts. Whereas in 1828 the curators of the Matenadaran catalogued a collection of only 1,809 manuscripts, in 1863 the collection had increased to 2,340 manuscripts, and in 1892 to 3,158 manuscripts. Prior to World War I, in 1913, the collection had reached 4,660 manuscripts. In 1915, the collection was sent to Moscow for safekeeping since Etchmiadzin was close to the war zone.Thousands of Armenian manuscripts were destroyed during the Armenian Genocide in the Ottoman Empire, but around 1,600 were saved from Vaspurakan, Taron, Erzurum, and elsewhere.
Modern Matenadaran
On December 17, 1920, just two weeks after the demise of the First Republic of Armenia and Sovietization of Armenia, the new Bolshevik government of Armenia issued a decree nationalizing all cultural and educational institutions in Armenia. The decree, signed by Minister of Education Ashot Hovhannisyan, declared the manuscript repository of Etchmiadzin the "property of the working peoples of Armenia." It was put under the supervision of Levon Lisitsian, an art historian and the newly appointed commissar of all cultural and educational institutions of Etchmiadzin. On February 5, 1921 it became the basis of the newly-founded Etchmiadzin Cultural-Historical Institute, Armenia's first research institute. In March 1922 the manuscripts from Etchmiadzin that had been sent to Moscow during World War I were ordered to be returned to Armenia by Alexander Miasnikian. 1,730 manuscripts were added to the original 4,660 manuscripts held at Etchmiadzin once they returned to Armenia.In 1939 the entire collection of manuscripts of Etchmiadzin were transferred to the State Public Library in Yerevan 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 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 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.
Architecture
The architectural ensemble of the Matenadaran includes the main building, road leading up to the building, the wing colonnades, and monumental statues of prominent medieval Armenian figures. It is a national monument of Armenia.Main building
The Matenadaran building is situated on a slope at the northeastern end of Mashtots Avenue, the main thoroughfare in central Yerevan. Rising above street level, it forms a visual endpoint for the avenue and serves as an intermediate link in the spatial composition that includes the statue of Mother Armenia and its large pedestal atop the hill.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 Hovsep 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. Its interior decoration was completed between 1957 and 1959. The building was most recently renovated in 2012.
Standing tall, it is a simple cube faced with local gray basalt. The design of its façade and interior are 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—a tall arched central entrance flanked by two tall and narrow decorative niches on both sides—is specifically inspired by the eastern façade of the 12th century southern gavit of the Church of the Holy Apostles of Ani, the grand capital of Bagratid Armenia. Grigorian also cited the ancient Egyptian Temple of Edfu and the Baron's Palace in Ani as an inspiration—the former for the double triangular niches and the latter for the decorative frame. The niches have been also likened to those of Geghard and St. Hripsime.
The central archway features an arrangement of interlocking octagonal metal modules resembling medieval decorations found on the tympana of Yereruik and Saint Bartholomew Monastery. The design of the main entrance is simple, relying exclusively on basic geometric forms. The grand copper door, inspired by medieval church doors, is decorated with repeating motifs.
File:2014 Erywań, Matenadaran.jpg|thumb|One of the three murals, depicting the Armenian alphabet, a quote from Movses Khorenatsi, a khachkar, a reconsutrction of Zvartnots Cathedral, and an illuminated manuscript.
Interiors
Its interior was likewise inspired by medieval Armenian architecture, especially eleventh and twelfth century gavits. The vestibule was specifically inspired by the gavit of Sanahin Monastery, while other halls were inspired by the design of the gavits of Haghpat and Horomos. Various marbles were used in the interior, including brown marble in the lobby.A triptych of vivid, 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, also created by Khachatur in 1960, depicts the Battle of Avarayr and is located in the entrance hall. Created from blue, black, red, orange, and yellow tesserae, it is fitted into the semicircular surface of an arch. Other artwork inside include a bronze sculpture of Movses Khorenatsi by Aytsemnik Urartu, forty ceramic works and two sculptures by Hmayak Bdeyan. A large ivory medallion with a diameter of with the portrait of Vladimir Lenin by Sergey Merkurov was previously hung in the lecture hall.