MUSEUM AND PANTHEON KOMITAS

The Reverend Father Komitas, whose real name was Soghomon Soghomonian (1869-1935), is so revered in Armenia that he gave his name to the Yerevan Pantheon, where his remains, repatriated from France, were buried on May 28, 1936 under the aegis of the Soviet authorities. It was only fair, therefore, that it should have its own museum: since January 29, 2015, it stands at the edge of the park housing the eponymous Pantheon, where it has its eternal home. Housed in a building with clean traditional lines, the museum allows visitors to travel through the world of this brilliant composer, who lost his life, or at least his sanity, in the turmoil of the genocide. Articulated around a patio where a symbolic linden tree (tchinari) is enthroned, the museum's rooms show photos, drawings, paintings and sculptures representing Komitas, right down to his death mask. We also discover objects dear to the composer, scores, texts and letters, to the sound of the precious recordings of his voice reproducing the national melodies he piously collected. A place of memory, a place of life and transmission as well: the museum houses a concert hall which is intended to illustrate the vitality of Armenian music of which Komitas was one of the greatest singers

The Pantheon Komitas, located before that of Yeraplour, north of the great artificial lake Erevanian, has a less martial vocation. The national glories of art, literature and science lie here in a green setting, open 24 hours a day