The Restoration Department was established in 1939, coinciding with the relocation of Matenadaran to Yerevan. It currently functions as a unique institution within the region. The department specialises in the conservation and restoration of paper and parchment manuscripts, archival documents, miniatures, and graphic works that have been subjected to deterioration caused by moisture, fire, fungi, microorganisms, rodents, and insects.

Equipped with modern instrumentation, the department operates through a combination of traditional methods and advanced technologies, applying the professional standards recommended by the European Confederation of Conservator-Restorers’ Organisations (E.C.C.O.).

The principal areas of activity undertaken by the Restoration Department include:

  • Conservation of manuscripts, old printed books, and documents; reinforcement of tears; and the restoration of missing portions of folios
  • Examination and consolidation of miniatures
  • Restoration and preservation of all categories of leather bindings
  • Softening of parchment and elimination of deformations and other damage
  • Repair and rebinding of medieval silver-covered manuscript bindings, restoring them to their original form
  • Ongoing monitoring of the physical condition of the Matenadaran’s manuscripts, old printed books, and documents
  • Training and professional development of specialists

The department collaborates with several prestigious international scholarly and cultural institutions, including the Berlin State Library, the Italian Institute for Book Pathology, the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, the Russian State Library, the Grabar Conservation Centre in Moscow, King’s College London, the Sapienza University of Rome, the Library of Congress of the United States, and the Rosfoto Association in Saint Petersburg.

In addition to conservation and restoration activities for the Matenadaran’s own collections, the department provides consultancy and restoration services for museums and libraries in Armenia, as well as for Armenian collections in the diaspora.

Within the framework of the project “Complex Conservation Interventions for the Restoration and Promotion of the Written Heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh” (funded by the US Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation), comprehensive interventions are executed, including paper consolidation, loss compensation, ink neutralisation, and structural restoration of bindings.

Research is conducted using FTIR (Lumos, Bruker) spectroscopy and XRF (Hitachi) analysis, facilitating the selection of chemically compatible interventions that mitigate the risk of further deterioration.

The Matenadaran Restoration Department constitutes an important pan-Armenian institutional centre for the preservation of collective memory. One of the foremost directions of its mission is the restoration and preservation of the Armenian written heritage of the diaspora, including collections held at the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the Mekhitarist Congregation of Vienna, the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia in Antelias, the Patriarchal Congregation of Bzommar, the Monastery of the Holy Saviour in New Julfa (Isfahan), the Armenian Museum of America, and others.

The Restoration Department also comprises the following specialised subdivisions:

Production of Armenian Restoration Paper

On 22 May 2025, the Armenian restoration paper workshop was inaugurated at Matenadaran. Paper required for the restoration of written heritage is now produced on-site, enhancing the institution’s independence from the international market and opening new prospects for entrepreneurial activity. The establishment of the workshop is consistent with the Matenadaran’s commitment to its professional responsibility towards manuscript heritage preserved throughout the world.

Arabic Manuscript Restoration Laboratory

The project for the restoration of Arabic-script manuscripts, approved by the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage (ALIPH), is being implemented through the establishment of a dedicated restoration laboratory, which will open new pathways for the study, consolidation, and restoration of the Arabic-script collection.

Head of the Department: Gayane Eliazyan
PhD in Chemical Sciences
Phone: +37410 513017, Internal: 1-30

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