One of the most prominent landmarks of Yerevan, it is named after Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet, whose statue stands in front of the building.

[1] As a result of Armenia being a constant battleground between two major powers, the Matenadaran in Etchmiadzin was pillaged several times, the last of which took place in 1804, during the Russo-Persian War.

Eastern Armenia's annexation by the Russian Empire in the early 19th century provided a more stable climate for the preservation of the remaining manuscripts.

[29] The decree, signed by Minister of Education Ashot Hovhannisyan, declared the manuscript repository of Etchmiadzin the "property of the working peoples of Armenia.

"[30] It was put under the supervision of Levon Lisitsian [hy], an art historian and the newly appointed commissar of all cultural and educational institutions of Etchmiadzin.

[36] Rising 18 m (59 ft) above street level,[37][38] it forms a visual endpoint for the avenue[1] and serves as an intermediate link in the spatial composition that includes the statue of Mother Armenia and its large pedestal atop the hill.

[40][41][42] Despite accusations of nationalism, its design was endorsed by the Soviet Armenian leader Grigory Arutinov,[41][43] while academician Hovsep Orbeli proposed its location.

[1] A triptych of Renaissance-inspired murals,[41] created by Van Khachatur in 1959, depict three periods of Armenian history—Urartu, Hellenism, and the Christian Middle Ages—surrounding the steps leading to the main exhibition hall.

[56][57] A mosaic inspired by medieval Armenian art,[41] created by Khachatur in 1960, depicts the Battle of Avarayr (451) and is located in the entrance hall.

[57] A large ivory medallion with a diameter of 2 m (6 ft 7 in) with the portrait of Vladimir Lenin by Sergey Merkurov was previously hung in the lecture hall.

Hovhannes Margaryan praised its "outstanding conceptual and artistic quality",[60] but Rafayel Israyelian, writing in 1953, observed that it faced "heavily criticism" during its design debates, pointing to "fundamental errors" in its location and style.

[40] Edmond Tigranyan saw its design as reflective of "Leninist understanding of cultural heritage and the objectives of national imagery in architecture" as expressed in the works of Alexander Tamanian.

[62] Artsvin Grigoryan and Martin Tovmasyan commended the façade's "refined plasticity", noting how "classical variations in forms and proportions" create a "harmonious rhythm in the otherwise solid stone wall."

They also found the "unsuccessful harmony between the building's volume and the slope, with its diagonal alignment seemingly cutting into the natural environment, disappointing.

"[64] Yuri Yaralov was even more critical, describing the building as "an example of an uncritical use of ancient forms in a modern structure" and calling it "a regrettable failure."

According to Yaralov, Grigorian's near-direct replication of elements from 11th-13th century Armenian refectories and gavits transformed the building's interior into "a museum of historical forms, detaching visitors from the present and recreating the atmosphere of a distant medieval period.

[78][g] The statue of Mesrop Mashtots and his disciple Koryun by Ghukas Chubaryan was erected in 1962 (first in gypsum, then in basalt in 1967)[1] below the terrace where the main building stands.

[57] From 1963 to 1967, full-body basalt statues of six medieval Armenian scholars, Toros Roslin, Grigor Tatevatsi, Anania Shirakatsi, Movses Khorenatsi, Mkhitar Gosh, and Frik, were erected in front of the building.

On display there are medieval khachkars; a tombstone from the Noratus cemetery; a vishapakar dated 2nd-1st millennia BC; a door from Teishebaini (Karmir Blur), a Urartian archaeological site.

[90] It received funding from Moscow-based Armenian businessman Sergei Hambartsumian ($10 million) and Maxim Hakobian, director of the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine ($4 million),[91][87] and was inaugurated on September 20, 2011, on the eve of celebrations of the 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence in attendance of President Serzh Sargsyan, Catholicoi Karekin II of Etchmiadzin and Aram I of Cilicia, Artsakh President Bako Sahakyan, and others.

[3] Many foreign dignitaries have visited the Matenadaran, including Leonid Brezhnev (1970),[100] Indira Gandhi (1976),[101] Vladimir Putin (2001),[102] José Manuel Barroso (2012),[103] Prince Charles (2013).

[30][32] The manuscripts cover a wide array of subjects: religious and theological works (Gospels, Bibles, lectionaries, psalters, hymnals, homilies, and liturgical books), texts on history, mathematics, geography, astronomy, cosmology, philosophy, jurisprudence, medicine, alchemy, astrology, music, grammar, rhetoric, philology, pedagogy, collections of poetry, literary texts, and translations from Greek and Syriac.

The rest came from the Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages in Moscow, the Nersisian Seminary and the Armenian Ethnographic Society, both in Tbilisi, and the Yerevan Museum of Literature.

[29] When it was established as a distinct institution in 1959, the Matenadaran had around 10,000 Armenian manuscripts and 4,000 fragments (partial volumes or isolated pages) dating as early as the 5th century.

[122] The first two volumes, published in 1941 and 1950, appeared under the title Collection of Scientific Materials (Գիտական նյութերի ժողովածու, Gitakan nyut‘eri zhoghovatsu) and acquired its current name in 1956.

"[134] Thomas de Waal notes that alongside several other institutions (e.g. the Opera, National Gallery) the Matenadaran was central in the Soviet efforts to make Yerevan a "repository of Armenian myths and hopes.

"[137] Gevorg Emin called it the "chief temple" of Armenian manuscripts,[138] while Silva Kaputikyan suggested that it "evokes the same reverent feeling" as Saint Hripsime Church and the monastery of Geghard.

[140] An American delegation headed by Glenn T. Seaborg that visited in 1971 noted the "loving care with which the people obviously regarded" the "tremendous wealth" of the Matenadaran.

[143] The Communist Party's official newspaper, Pravda, wrote that no educated Soviet citizen can "imagine spiritual life without the capital's Tretyakov Gallery, the Leningrad Hermitage, and the Yerevan Matenadaran.

[148] In 2015 the Central Bank of Russia issued a silver commemorative coin dedicated to the Eurasian Economic Union, which depicted symbols of the capitals of the member states, including the Matenadaran.