Matenadaran Library

The Matenadaran Library was established using the collection of Matenadaran of Etchmiadzin Cathedral. In 1939, the government of Soviet Armenia decided to move Matenadaran from Etchmiadzin to Yerevan and placed it on the 2nd and 3rd floors of the Public Library. The current Armenian Studies Library of Matenadaran, which has a rich collection of printed literature, was reorganized on March 3, 1959. After the opening of the new academic building of Matenadaran on September 20, 2011, the Library was relocated from the museum building to the first floor of the new building. In 2013, an Armenian Studies Printed Literature and Periodicals department was established in Matenadaran.
The Matenadaran Library offers its repositories to users, including a book exchange function. The repositories of the Library contain over 120,000 collections of old printed and unique Armenian books in 45 languages, as well as rare samples of maps, atlases, albums, and notes.
The collection of old printed Armenian books at Matenadaran is exceptional, with approximately 2,400 items, including 95 unique examples. The Library also keeps copies of four of the five books printed in Venice by Hakob Meghapart, the originator of Armenian printing. These include one copy each of “Urpatakirk” (“Friday Book”), “Tagharan,” and “Parzatumar,” published in 1512, as well as the unique “Aghtark,” published in 1513. The collection of old printed publications at the Library contains other valuable examples, such as the Psalter published in Venice by Abgar Dpir Tokhatetsi in 1565-1566, a defective copy of the Psalter published in Venice by Hovhannes Terzntsi in 1587, the Armenian-Latin dictionary of Francesco Rivola in Milan in 1621, “Bargirq Hayots,” Voskan Yerevantsi’s “Grammar” published in Amsterdam in 1966, and others. The Armenian language collection includes books of Armenian studies published from 1801 until today. The collection is precious for books and kondaks certified by the autographs of Khrimyan Hayrik, Armenian church fathers, students of Gevorgian Seminary, and other famous people.
The Matenadaran Library houses a multilingual collection of books, including exclusive Armenian and Medieval Studies samples and old printed books in 44 diverse languages. The collection also includes books in dead or almost unused languages like Hittite, Syriac, Abyssinian, Esperanto, and others. The oldest book in the collection is Ptolemy’s Geography in Latin, published in 1482. In addition to the books, the Library has a rich press fund, which includes Armenian newspapers and magazines printed in Armenian colonies and Armenia, as well as Armenian Studies materials in Russian and European languages. The Library’s priority is to replenish its funds, preserve its collections and create an electronic catalog. In 2018, the Matenadaran Library joined the Koha integrated library network to participate in the replenishment of union catalogs.
The press and printed book depositories are located on the first floor of the Matenadaran’s Scientific Research building.

Head of the Department Tatevik Ghazumyan
Tel: +374 10 513030 Extension 1-37