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The Armenian National Academy of Sciences will host an international conference “Mekhitarist Congregation of Venice: 300” on 24-25 October as part of the jubilee events marking the 300th anniversary of the establishment of the Mekhitarist Congregation in San Lazzaro, Venice.

The conference will be preceded by an exhibition titled “The 300-year history of Mekhitarists” to be housed at Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts, commonly referred to as the Matenadaran, on 23 October.

As the Matenadaran sources told Panorama.am, the exposition features books printed in San Lazzaro in the 17-18th century. The opening of the exhibition will be attended by Levon Zekiyan, Archbishop of the Armenian Catholic Archdiocese of Constantinople and Papal Legate for the Mekhitarist Congregation of Venice.

The conference consists of three parts, covering the activities of the Mekhitarists in the field of history, their contribution in philology, arts and culture. 

The religious, educational, scientific and cultural organization was founded by Mkhitar Sebastatsi at Constantinople in 1701. The Congregation found its way to San Lazzaro Island in Venice in 1717, turning the island into a unique spiritual Armenia.