Top 5 Museums of Yerevan

The heart of Armenia, capital Yerevan, in addition to the sheer number of cafes and restaurants, is also the cultural and historical hotspot of the country. This only adds to the number of places to visit in Armenia. The capital possesses more than 40 museums, which surely give a deep insight into Armenian culture and history. The Armenia museums are mainly dedicated to history, culture, arts, folk art, archeology, science and military history. The list also includes house-museums of prominent Armenian artists and writers which enjoy high popularity and interest among locals and visitors, but fortunately are not very crowded. Worthy to mention, the  Armenia museums are easy to access, spread all over the city and can be found very easily. Importantly, the top Yerevan museums are surely included in our tour programs. 

By considering the great role museums play in shaping the future generations mindset and represent the cultural heritage of Armenia to the foreigners, here we have listed the top five most important Yerevan museums Yerevan. 

Located right in the center of Yerevan, the History Museum of Armenia, proudly takes the responsibility of bridging the past, present, and future with its more than 400.000 objects. Created in 1921, during the harshest periods of Armenian History,- when half of Armenia was being killed, while the other was suffering, – the museum is the standing proof of the nation’s love and care towards cultural and historical values. During the course of 100 years, History Museum worked really hard on collecting, discovering, implementing, preserving, and exhibiting the valuable and intangible heritage related to Armenia and its people.  Importantly, the museum is not just simply about appreciating Armenia and forgetting others. Within the scope of 400.000 objects, the museum exhibits collections coming from prehistoric times – aging around one million eight hundred thousand years old. Can you imagine that? So, this is a must-visit museum both in Yerevan and in Armenia, becoming another incentive to travel to Armenia. 

No way without Matenadaran. One of the largest depositories of ancient manuscripts in the world, Matenadaran is definitely the pearl of the Armenian cultural centers and museums o Yerevan. The name in ancient Armenian meant “Depository of manuscripts” which came into power thanks to the inventor of the Armenian Alphabet Mesrop Mashtots. The latter is also responsible for establishing the first “Matendaran” in Vagharshapat in 405 AD, which became the base to establish the today-known Matendaran in Yerevan.

Named after Mesrop Mashtots, the museum opened its doors on the first of March, 1959 consisting of just one hall. Now it possesses more than 15 halls with a collection of more than 20.000 ancient manuscripts ( both in Armenian, and other languages) 450.000 archival documents, and 3000 books. And this is not just only about numbers, the institute-museum presents a unique architectural style and design that is better to see once than hear thousands of times.  The museum itself is an attribution to all the genius and hard-working people, who have dedicated their lifetime to documenting, preserving, and protecting history.

 The Folk Art Museum after Hovhannes Sharambeyan, presents an unrepeatable cultural and art collection in Yerevan. Gathered yet in 1930 the collection consists of Armenian decorative and applied art, including 12.000 exhibits, like wood, metal, and stone carvings, paintings, Armenian rugs, carpets, and ceramic. Having a branch in Dilijan, the main center is located in Yerevan on Abovyan Street, which previously has been a home for a number of singers, and artists. Famous Armenian artists, singers, and painters have always enriched and contributed to the cultural center by making it a value in the cultural life of the country. Within its four exhibition halls, the museum presents 2000 exhibits, like, wood enslavement, metal artistic works, silver-making art, stone art, ceramics, and 350 carpets and rugs. With this gigantic contribution to modern art development, the Art Museum adds to the number of top museums in Yerevan. 

Surely, Armenia does have millennials of art, history, and culture, but it is people who gave Armenia the value that it has now. Sergey Parajanov is one of those. One of the greatest masters of cinema, Sergey Parajanov, was a real legend in the field of cinema. His films brought him fans, like Fellini and Tarkovsky, while his colleagues put him in the company of Picasso. The fame and impact of his artworks have passed the borders of Armenia, starting from Hollywood directors, and New York designers, to scientists awarded with Nobel Prizes and superstars like Lady Gaga and Madonna. Sergey Parajanov was a man of art and culture, and his influence could not be left unnoticed and unappreciated. 

Thus, the Sergey Parajanov museum is a real attribute to the huge works he created and influenced during his lifetime and after his death. Established in 1991, one year after Parajanov’s death, the Parajanov Museum consists of 137 exhibits, including collages, films, hats, dolls, and other personal belongings. During 31 years of existence, the museum came to have 67 exhibitions in more than 30 countries. The honor and fame of the museum and Parajanov led lots of superstars and famous people to pay tribute to the honorable cinematographer. So, do not hesitate and be one of them. Be sure, you will be exploring a world-class, and international artist. 

Far away from the city center and noise, up on one of the hills of Yerevan, the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute continues speaking up about the first horrifying genocide of the 20th century-The Armenian Genocide. Having 28 years of history, the museum commemorates the innocent Armenian victims whose inhuman massacres and slaughters are still unrecognized and unpunished. Without any doubt, the museum is one of the top museums of Yerevan and Armenia, in general. A must-visit place in your trips to Armenia. 

Consisting of 12 halls and comprising 2400 meters square territory, the museum has 50 main headings in which thousands of new materials are exhibited as a result of 8 years of collective work. The museum uses print, multimedia, projectors, and touch screens to show the original and old photos, books, documents, videos, audio, stories, materials, personal belongings, and so on and so forth. The exhibited materials are purely based on scientific advancements in the field of genocide studies in the past few years. The tours are provided in Armenian as well as in foreign languages, like Russian, English, French, and German. Each year the number of visitors is increasing both among the Armenians and the foreign visitors, tourists, and delegations by spreading awareness about an inhuman action that ruined and destroyed more than a million lives and ruined thousands of years old culture and history.