Matenadaran - the Museum of Ancient Manuscripts, Yerevan

There are so many wonderful museums in Yerevan, and all of them so different, it’s hard to choose a favourite. These range from the vitally important, yet tragic, Genocide Museum and Monument to a number of intimate house museums, such as the Lusik Aguletsi (a great artist and ethnographer) house museum and cafe; the Serjei Parajanov (Armenia's greatest film director) museum; and the excellent Martiros Saryan (one of the greatest painters of the 20th century) house museum. But if you just have a day or two in the Armenian capital, and want to get to grips with the story of Armenia, then you really must pay a visit to Matenadaran, AKA the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts.

Despite 2000-years of being invaded, overrun and subsumed, and the horrors of the 1915 Genocide, Armenia has managed to retain a strong sense of identity and nationhood. Key to this is its unique 39-character alphabet, developed by 5th century theologian Mesrop Mashtots who realized that if the Armenians were to survive they had to have a common idea, an identity. His alphabet became this identity.

1500 years later, Matenadaran - a museum, archive and centre for scientific research - is a paean to Mashtot’s creation, housing the largest collection of Armenian manuscripts in the world. Walking around hushed rooms filled with illuminated gospels, psalteries and miscellanies, you’re struck by the age and beauty of the manuscripts. Many are a thousand or more years old, intricately decorated with wild animals, palm trees and winged figures. Just imagine the months of work that went into creating these, monks bent over the vellum pages, working by candlelight on dark winter’s evenings.

To visit the museum as part of a tailor-made trip to Armenia, or the wider Caucasus region, contact us here.