MULTI-LANGUAGE INFORMATION PANELS INSTALLED AT THE MATENADARAN INSTITUTE FOR ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS
NOYAN TAPAN
APRIL 30, 2010
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, APRIL 30, NOYAN TAPAN. On April 29 multi-language information
panels were installed at the Matenadaran Scientific Research Institute
for Ancient Manuscripts after Mesrop Mashtots. This initiative of the
Armenian Monuments Awareness Project (AMAP) is another remarkable
event in the series of events aiming at raising awareness on the
cultural-historical and natural monuments of Armenia, as well as
promoting tourism in the country.
The installation of information panels was sponsored by VivaCell-MTS,
the US Ambassadors Cultural Fund, USAID/CAPS, Honorary Consul for
Italy in Gyumri and the Norwegian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The
project was also promoted by International Council on Monuments and
Sites ICOMOS/Armenia, Holy See of Echmiadzin, Institutes of Botany,
Archaeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of
Armenia, Matenadaran and the Ministry of Transport and Communication
of Armenia.
"Matenadaran is a treasure we should cherish, where the whole Armenian
spiritual legacy is represented chapter by chapter. Matendaran is the
repository of Armenian spirit, culture and its legacy of inspiration,
achievement, and perseverance that helped our Nation, long-lasting
and unfading, like its world-famous Vordan Karmir paint, reach those
days even without having statehood. And therefore, there has never
been a better time to be an Armenian as today we have this statehood,
and much more opportunities for preservation and development of our
cultural identity," told VivaCell-MTS General Manager Ralph Yirikian
at the ceremony of opening.
The Matenadaran is one of the world’s richest manuscript depositories,
with a collection of nearly 17,000 manuscripts covering almost all
areas of ancient and medieval Armenian culture and science. Many
originals lost in their mother tongue are available only in their
Armenian translations, preserved at the Matenadaran and particularly
valuable to world culture and science. In addition to the Armenian
manuscripts, which form the main body of the Matenadaran collection,
there are also preserved manuscripts in Arabic, Persian, Greek,
Assyrian, Old Slavic, Latin, Ethiopian, Indian, Japanese and other
languages.
Mashtots also established a collection of Armenian manuscripts at
the Holy See of Echmiadzin (the center of the Armenian Church). In
1920 the Holy Etchmiadzin Matenadaran became state property and in
1939 it was relocated to Yerevan.