INSTITUTE OF ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS is located on Mashtots Avenue, one of the main arteries of the city. The museum is named after Mesrob Mashtots, the creator of the Armenian Alphabet. Matenadaran-which means “depository of manuscripts library” - is one of the oldest and richest book-depositories in the world, which includes about 17000 Armenian illuminated manuscripts, some dating back to the 5th century AD. Its collection pertaining to all branches of knowledge, to ancient and medieval Armenia, the people of the Middle and near East, North Africa, Greece and Rome. The largest Armenian manuscript in the world is the “HOMILIES OF MUSH” which is created in 1200 and weighs 27.5 kg, and the smallest is a CALENDAR, which weighs only 19 grams.