Matenadaran

Matenadaran (manuscript repository) is a research institute and museum in Yerevan, founded in 1920. The institution traces its lineage to Mesrop Mashtots, whom it credits as the creator of the first such repository, and organizes its work around the study and preservation of medieval Armenian manuscripts.

Its research departments cover archival studies, oriental studies, paleography (manuscript studies), medieval art, medieval literature and philology, translated texts, and biochemical analysis of manuscripts, alongside a group dedicated to Armenian medieval music. The institute also runs a restoration department, a digitization department, a library and reading room, and its own publishing house.

As a museum, Matenadaran puts on exhibitions and educational programs, sells tickets online, and maintains a digital archive of manuscript images alongside a gallery. It is open Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 to 17:50, and closed Sunday and Monday. The site has wheelchair-accessible parking, entrance, and restroom, and is listed as suitable for children.

Matenadaran sits within Yerevan itself, about 2 km north-northeast of the city center (straight-line).