Here visitors can admire a diverse collection of objects acquired or donated over the centuries by the Armenian Congregation, including archaeological finds from around the world. Highlights include ushapti (Egyptian funeral figurines believed to have protective powers), ancient terracotta pieces, ceramics, and oriental art objects such as the Canton Ball, a unique ivory artifact carved into 14 concentric spheres. There are also several sculptures, including a plaster cast by Canova depicting Napoleon Bonaparte’s son.
The gallery houses numerous works by renowned Armenian painters like Hovhannes Aivazovski (1817–1900) and Harutiun Ajemian (1904–1965). On the ceiling, visitors can admire Tiepolo’s magnificent painting depicting an allegory of Justice.
The room dedicated to Armenian art and history features important bronze finds, a vast collection of ceramics, mostly liturgical silverware, and other significant historical artifacts from the Urartu civilization, an ancient Armenian people.
In a small room of the museum you’ll find the Egyptian mummy of Nemen Khet Amen, dating to the 7th century BC and considered among the best preserved in the world, complete with its sarcophagus. The same room also displays a princely Indian throne made of teak wood with intricate ivory inlays.
Through a small passage, visitors enter the real “treasure” of the island: the library of the San Lazzaro degli Armeni Monastery, created in 1740 by Mechitar and today considered the most important collection of Armenian manuscripts in the West.
The Armenian Mechitarist Congregation’s library heritage includes about 4,000 manuscripts dating from the 6th to the 18th century, most of which are of Armenian origin. This collection is the result of centuries of preservation and acquisition.
Among the works, in addition to the largest collection of Armenian periodicals and newspapers ever assembled, there is also an important archaeology text collection—donated by Egyptian minister Artin Cerakian in the early 1900s—including two original editions of the Description de l’Égypte, the monumental work that marks the birth of modern archaeology, promoted by Napoleon during his Egyptian campaign. The monastery also preserves other objects and artworks, such as ceramics, silverware, and paintings by Armenian artists. Open daily from 3:25 p.m. to 5:25 p.m. Admission €6.00.
