At the top of Yerevan's largest boulevard was the cathedral-like Matenadaran, a manuscript library that I read was a source of huge pride for all Armenians. The first matendaran or book depository for Armenian texts was constructed in the 5th century west of Yerevan by St. Mesrop Mashots, the creator of the Armenian alphabet. Sadly, looting and burning from invasions over the centuries led to mammoth losses but still the museum's vast collection comprised more than 23,000 manuscripts and over 500,000 archival documents.
Outside the Matenadaran was a monument of Mashots teaching his alphabet to a disciple.
Six other statues of great Armenian scholars were placed by the imposing entrance.
Knowing intellectually about the museum's ancient texts in advance was far different than being able to examine the generally beautifully preserved texts in Armenian, Aramaic, Greek, Persian and other languages. The manuscripts were either translated from Armenian, written in Armenian or published by Armenians.
The artistic quality of the illuminated scripts and the intricately carved silver covers was a delight to see.
The ivory binding was from the 6th century!
This 13th century Homilies of Mush was so heavy that Lonely Planet describes it as having to be ripped in half to be carried away to safety by two women after the 1915 massacres of Armenians by Turkey. The book was only put back together years later as one of the women had emigrated to the US and taken it with her for safekeeping.
I am glad we spent some time at the museum as the ancient books and documents were a testament to the immensity of Armenia’s cultural legacy.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I love to knit so seeing this bronze carving of a mother and daughter reminded me of the many hours I had held a skein of yarn as my own mother wound it into a ball. Nowadays, I take the easy way out and buy all my yarn already made into balls!
Some very pretty silver pieces, in need of some spit and polish just like ours at home!
This was a horse blanket, something we rarely see.
We have been so fortunate to see some beautiful embroidery and needlework in our travels over the years, particularly in the countries of the former Yugoslavia. However, what we saw at the museum in Yerevan rivaled anything we've ever seen.
I cannot begin to imagine the patience, breadth of knowledge and years of experience required to create such a masterpiece.
Flower stalls were a common sight all over Yerevan; this bouquet caught my eye because of the roses' pretty pink and white color combination.
What a hoot seeing this bottle of nail polish of all things in the bowels of the metro station!
The St. Gregory the Illumiator Cathedral, the largest belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church in the world, was built to celebrate 1700 years of Christianity in Armenia. Located atop a hill on the eastern side of Yerevan, it was consecrated in 2001.
What a hot day it was as we made our way up all those steps to the Cathedral!
Off to one side was another heroic monument to someone, another common sight in Yerevan!
A bride and groom getting ready to marry!
Just inside the entrance was a baldachin which contained relics of St. Gregory from another church we visited the next day. We noticed people genuflecting and kissing the stone in the middle as they entered the cathedral.
Once we entered we realized the bride and groom were waiting outside as another couple was getting married first inside! The interior left us pretty cold as it had none of the simple beauty of other Armenian churches we had already seen. Plus, unlike the others, it had over 1700 seats and no place to light candles even though women were selling candles outside to unsuspecting visitors. The religious complex also included two small chapels, one on either side of the main entrance, but both were closed that day.
Have you heard of the famous GUM Market in Moscow made famous in spy novels, movies, etc? We had and were therefore curious to visit the market with the same name in Yerevan, especially since we're always a fan of local markets when we travel.
The displays of dried and candied fruit went on for ever and ever in the large covered market. If we'd been hungry, we could have likely eaten our way through the market as the stall holders tried to ply us with sesame seed-covered treats and other delicacies in the hope we'd then buy some! They didn't make any money off us as I don't care for sesame seeds and Steven was concerned there might be nuts which he's allergic to. We did both love looking at the artfully arranged assortments of pre-packaged items.
The fruit and spice displays were also a treat to see at the GUM Market.
This statue of a fruit seller should have been on display near the market but it wasn't!
We made our way next to the Sergei Paradjanov Museum, a tribute to Soviet-Armenian director and artist of the same name after reading about his work on Trip Advisor for the first time. Paradjanov spent 15 years in and out of prison during the Soviet era as he was homosexual and considered too avant-garde. The museum was located in the home where he lived in Yerevan.
The museum was full of fascinating collages the artist had made for his films and other projects. This piece, done in 1983, was of Yuri Gagarin, the first cosmonaut in space who also had Armenian heritage.
The collages were utterly fascinating and made from such diverse materials as shells, old photos, bits of china, buttons, hair decorations and other 'treasures.'
This suit, that looked like it was made from carpet pieces, was from Paradjnov's 1988 film Ashik Kerib.
Sketches for his 1987 film called The Demon:
This collage contained a letter from the Italian director Fellini to Paradjnov.
Having just seen da Vinci's remarkable Mona Lisa in the Louvre several days previously, I spent more time at Paradjanov's unusual depictions, again in collages, of the life of Giaconda aka Mona Lisa. As with any of the photos, just click on it to see it in greater detail.
In 2016 the European Film Academy awarded the Sergei Paradjanov Museum the title 'Treasure of European Film Culture!'
Neither Steven nor I had been aware of Sergei Paradjanov and the fact he was regarded as one of the most original and critically-acclaimed filmmakers of the 20th century but that didn't deter us from immensely enjoying the museum.
According to the sign, this monument was the first monument in Yerevan when it was erected in 1931.
After seeing the sights, we spent a good hour or so reading and relaxing in a park across from the busy Republic Square. Yasemin, a young woman from Turkey whom we had met on the tour the previous day, spotted us and joined us for a good while and shared with us her life in Istanbul and her love of traveling. We hope our paths will cross again.
Though the book depository was huge, the museum itself was smaller than we anticipated with all the exhibits located in a few rooms on the upper level.
These exquisite texts were from the 13th century.
An illustrated copy of the Armenian alphabet:
We stopped next at the Centre for Popular Creation, the home of what we read as being described as the best collection of folk art in Armenia. With a billing like that, we were curious as to what we would see. Our initial reactions were disappointment and surprise, however, when the stench of cigarette smoke hit us when we opened the door and realized we were the only visitors and an employee had to search for someone to sell us tickets and escort us from room to room. The lovely collection of 19th and 20th century carpets restored our spirits quickly, though!
I wish the room's lights weren't visible in the photos I took of the intricate woodwork that was so impressive.
Next post: Another day exploring more of Armenia's far-flung monasteries.
Posted on August 25th, 2018, from Tbilisi, Georgia.
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I remember a many evenings setting with my mom as she rolled her yarn into balls. Us kids would take turns because we didn't like to set still for more than one scan.
ReplyDeleteFreda, Nice to hear you also had the same memories of helping to wind skeins of yarn into balls.Somehow, as the only daughter with four brothers, I don't remember their being roped into doing the task with our Mum! Please say to everyone at Cornerstone - we miss you and them so much.
ReplyDeleteAnnie