Matenadaran is very famous Institute of Ancient Manuscripts built by architect Mark Grigoryan in 1957.Everyone who visits Yerevan also enjoys the place of the institute because it is one of the city's major landmarks and is considered as one of the Best Tourist Destinations of the country.
Standing in front of the entrance are sculptures of the great thinkers, scientists and cultural figures of ancient times Toros Roslin (13th century), Grigor Tatevtsi (15th century), Anani Shirakatsi (7th century), Movses Khorenatsi (5th century), Mkhitar Gosh (12th century) and Frik (14th century).
The meaning of Matenadaran in old Armenian means "depository of manuscripts" and "library". The Matenadarin is a large research centre for the study and for the protection of manuscripts. The Medieval Armenia and People in ancient took great care of their manuscripts as they played an significant role in the people's struggle against spiritual enslavement and assimilation.
All the large monasteries and universities had special scriptoria where master calligraphers made copies of books by Armenian scholars and writers and the works of foreign authors were translated into Armenian.
The oldest parchment book in the depository is said to be the Gospel of St. Lazarus which is written in 887 A.D., although there are earlier specimens which are incomplete and dated from the 5th-8th centuries. The oldest document on paper refers to 981 A.D. Visitors, of whom there are more than 50,000 a year, can see the best specimens of beautifully illustrated hand-written books displayed in the exhibition hall on the second floor.vThe largest in the world (34 kilograms) Armenian manuscript is displayed on a separate stand. It took seven hundred calf skins to make it. Next to it is a tiny book measurinl 3x4 centimetres and weighing a mere 12 grams.
Did you know? That tens of thousands of Armenian manuscripts have been destroyed in the countless wars and invasions that ravaged the country and only 25,000 manuscript volumes have been preserved . Of these there are more than 10,000 folios and also 2,500 fragments in Matenadaran. The rest are to be found in museums and libraries all over the world, mainly in Venice, Jerusalem, Vienna, Beirut, Paris and London.
0 comments:
Post a Comment