YEREVAN (RFE/RL)—President Serzh Sarkisian and the top leaders of the Armenian Apostolic Church inaugurated on Tuesday a new, more sprawling building of Armenia’s world-famous Madenataran repository of ancient manuscripts.
The Madenataran, officially called the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, was founded in 1959 to house and maintain one of the world’s richest collections of handwritten books spanning a broad range of subjects, including history, philosophy, medicine and literature. It currently has 17,000 mainly Armenian-language manuscripts and 30,000 other documents of interest to scholars.
A fraction of those manuscripts dating back to medieval times is put on display at a museum operating within the old Madenataran building which is perched on a hillside overlooking downtown Yerevan.
The Armenian government initiated in early 2008 the $14 million construction of a new building adjacent to the existing one. It will now house the manuscript repository itself as well as other facilities of the institute employing hundreds of people.
The project was financed by Russian-Armenian businessman Sergei Hambardzumian and Maxim Hakobian, a major shareholder in Armenia’s largest mining company. They donated $10 million and $4 million respectively.
Sarkisian paid tribute to both businessmen as well as Artur Meschian, a prominent Armenian musician and architect who designed the building, in a speech at the inauguration ceremony.
Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia, Aram I then consecrated the building in a joint prayer service. The new structure is equipped with a high-tech laboratory to preserve, restore and digitize manuscripts.
“This is one of the most important events taking place within the framework of the celebrations of the republic’s 20th anniversary,” Hrachya Tamrazian, the Madenataran director, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). He said it is “opening up huge possibilities for internationalizing Madenataran’s scientific activities.”
Tamrazian also emphasized the fact that the reconstruction will lead to a major expansion of the manuscript museum. The Madenataran’s entire old building, constructed in 1957, will be used for permanent exhibitions, he said.
“It will become one of the world’s unique museums,” added Tamrazian.
© 2021 Asbarez | All Rights Reserved | Powered By MSDN Solutions Inc.
Thank you Armenia, and congratulation on your 20th Anniversary.
Love+
good for those armenians donating their money, yerevan should be doing more,
madenatarans biggest issue will always be security, not just from people but nature too.
very valuable things should be stored so deep, airtight, watertight, so that even a flood or if turks dropped bopmbs on it, it would survive…same security as in the vatican, thats what we should do
All Armenians owe a debt of gratitude to the likes of Hampartsumian and Hagopian. I feel personally indebted to those immortals myself. My heroes will always be those who donate their hard earned earnings to our national survival. There is not a more sacred cause than giving our long torn and tormented country a foothold for their future.
I hope to see the names of Kirk Kerkorian and others from our Diaspora or what I call from the ‘World’s Armenia’, one day among the pantheon of Armenians who are making up for the paucity in our national resources of our shrunken homeland with their life reinforcing donations.
Կեցցէ զսպված ու համբերատար «ԱՍՊԱՐԵԶ» – ը: