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 While enjoying your stay at the Avan Villa Yerevan, take a day or two to visit one of the local art galleries or take a look back into time at the Matendaran, Institute of Ancient Manuscripts. Learn how Armenian Brandy is made at the Yerevan Brandy Factory.
The Matenadaran, the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts
Founded in 1959 as the State depository of manuscripts, the Matenadaran is named after Mesrop Mashtots, the creator of Armenian Alphabet. 11000 completely preserved handwritten books and more than 2000 partially preserved manuscripts are the core of the Matenadaran’s collection. The statues of Movses Khorenatsi, Toros Roslin, Grigor Tatevatsi, Anania Shirakatsi, Mkhitar Gosh and Frik are in front of the main façade and the statues of Mesrop Mashtots and his disciple Koriun (sculptor Chubarian) are situated at a lower level. The Matenadaran has departments of Bibliography and Textual Studies, Old Chronicles, Medieval Chronicles, Documents and Miniatures Studies, Preservation, Restoration and Copying of Manuscripts and Archival Documents. It also has a library with a huge stock of Armenian studies-related publications. Armenian manuscripts are on display not only in the Matenadaran but all over the world.
Sergei Parajanov House-Museum
The Museum was opened in 1991, a year after Parajanov’s death. It contains more than 200 works of the artist as well as furnishings of his home in Tiflis. The collection and archives of the exhibition are continuously expanded. Over the years the Museum has organized 26 exhibitions, including those at Cannes, Thessaloniki, Tokyo, Moscow, Rome, Tehran, and Bejing.
National Gallery of Armenia
The Art Gallery of Armenia, opened in 1921. Its extensive collection of Armenian, Western European, Russian Art numbers over 19000 items. Hermitage (Saint Petersburg) and the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow) transferred valuable pictures to the newly founded museum in 1922. The gallery contains Isaac Levitan’s landscapes, Mikhail Vrublev’s graphic works, Victor Borisov-Musatov’s portraits. The Gallery contains a first-class collection of Western European paintings. The collection occupies 8 rooms, opening with The Mystic Mariage of St. Catherine, a painting of the school of Lorenzo Di Bicci. A separate room is devoted to Italian Art. The section of Armenian art includes different branches of national art, graphics and sculpture. It has rich collections of works by Ayvazovski, Shahin, Sarian Yakulov, Gyourjian, Kodjoyan, Festadjian and many other prominent masters.
State History Museum of Armenia
State History Museum of Armenia was founded in 1919. In different periods of its history the Museum bore different names (Ethnographical-Anthropological, State Central and Cultural-Historical Museum). The collection of the Armenian Ethnographic Society of Tiflis (Georgia) formed a basis of the Museum. In 1922-1931 the collections of the Armenian Museum of Nor Nakhijevan, Moscow Lazarian Seminary (1922), Ani Archive (1926), State Museum of Echmiadzin (1929-1931) as well as Yervand Shahaz collection (1922) and finds from archaeological excavations organized by the Committee for Preservation of Antiquities (1931), were transferred to the Museum. The Museum had Archeology, Ethnography, Historiography and Fine Arts sections. In 1922 the Revolution section was established which later branched off and became a separate museum.
Ervand Kochar Museum
The Kochar Museum was founded in 1984 on the basis of Master’s Studio. The Museum of Yervand Kochar is an exceptional centre of historical Avantgard in the region. The creative work of the artist and sculpture Yervand Kochar /1899-1979/ is one of the most interesting phenomena in the XX century. In 1923-36, living in Paris, he became a rightful member of artists’ “Paris School”, giving life to an art, which put his name among those great artists, who dictated the proceeding events in the European Avantgard and World Fine Arts.
Martiros Saryan House-Museum
The Museum was built during the lifetime of the artist, next to his home and studio. Since 1967, it has operated as a branch of the National Art Gallery. The top and middle floors of this three-storey building exhibit paintings from 1898 - 1970, and the ground floor displays the artist’s drawings. Following the artist’s death in 1972, his studio also became a part of the museum. 80 paintings donated by the artist make up the core of the collection. Subsequent donations and acquisitions augmented the collection to 170. The museum organizes exhibitions of Saryan's paintings worldwide.
Yerevan Brandy Factory
Yerevan Brandy Company offers tours during which the visitors are offered to visit museum of the factory. The bar offers tasting of various old and chateau sort of cognacs, which have mellow-velvety flavour endowed with a rich bouquet of chocolaty-vanilla accents. Screen –tour in the world of legendary Armenian Brandy is in the video hall. Distillation and aging workshops are suggested as well.
Arts and Crafts Vernissage
The French word "le vernissage" has entered the parlance of Yerevan since late 1970s. A largely dormant concrete park during the week, Vernissage blossoms during the weekend days as all kinds of national crafts, including jewellery, carpets, woodwork, ceramics, canvases, paintings, and many other works of art can be found The Arts and Crafts Vernissage is located in the centre of Yerevan at Pavstos Biuzand Blvd in front of the Armeniainformation Visitors Center.
Painters' Vernisaj
A beautiful green park during the weekdays, Saryan Park transforms into an outdoor exhibition of paintings on the weekends, with artists often acting as salespeople of their original creations. Originally located the square in front of the Union of Armenian Artists, the Vernissage moved to the park around the Sarian Monument across from the Opera Square, an implicit tribute to the legendary painter. On week-ends, the lawns in the park disappear under rows of paintings, while people wander the corridors between them, appreciating and purchasing the high-quality artistic creations.
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