The Matenadaran is the research center for the study and safekeeping of old manuscripts named for Mesrop Mashtots, the inventor of the Armenian alphabet in 405. It was built in 1957. At present, the number of Armenian-language manuscripts kept in libraries and museums the world over is about 30 thousand. The collection in Matenadaran consists of 17,014 units. Over 100,000 documents dating back to the Middle Ages and to modern times are also kept there. In number and value of manuscripts, this establishment is considered to be of the world’s oldest and richest treasure-troves.