Nearly three thousand years of Armenian art and history
North America's most extensive collection of Armenian art and artifacts, shown in eight galleries on the campus of St. John Armenian Church in Southfield, Michigan.
Eight galleries
The collection holds more than 1,500 objects. Each gallery is devoted to one Armenian tradition, from Urartian bronzes and medieval manuscripts to carpets, embroidery, and painting.
Ancient Objects
Urartian bronzes from as early as the 9th century B.C. and early Armenian coinage.
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Manuscripts
Illuminated books from the 13th century on, along with an 11th-century fragment.
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Early Printed Books
Copies of the first Armenian Bible, printed in Amsterdam in 1666, and books from before 1799.
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Sacred Vessels and Vestments
Liturgical silver, embroidered vestments, altar cloths, and ceramic church ornaments.
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Rugs and Carpets
Rare carpets from the 18th century onward, most of them woven with inscriptions.
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Textiles
Lace, embroidery, and garments made by Armenian women and handed down through families.
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Household and Personal Objects
Work by Armenian goldsmiths and silversmiths, and Kütahya ceramics from the 18th century.
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Paintings
More than 100 canvases and sculptures, including seascapes by Aivazovsky and portraits by Pushman.
View galleryLent to The Met
In 2018 the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York borrowed three objects from the collection for Armenia!, its exhibition of Armenian medieval art.
The museum lent the hand relic of St. Abulmuse, which dates to the 8th century and rests in an 18th-century reliquary case, together with two 18th-century ceramics from Kütahya: an egg-shaped church ornament and a rare hexagonal tile painted with a domed church complex.
How the museum began
Alex Manoogian came to the United States in 1920 and settled in Detroit in 1924, where he founded the company that became Masco Corporation. He and his wife Marie were lifelong supporters of Armenian schools, churches, and cultural institutions in Michigan and in Armenia.
The museum opened in 1992, the fulfillment of years of collecting by Alex Manoogian and Archbishop Paren Avedikian, then pastor of St. John Armenian Church. It was built with a dual purpose, as an artistic endeavor and as an attempt to reconstruct the history of the Armenian people. The Manoogian family continues to support it today.
A Legacy of Armenian Treasures
The museum's catalogue, A Legacy of Armenian Treasures: Testimony to a People, presents more than 160 objects from the collection in full color. Each piece has a detailed entry, and essays by nine scholars place the objects in their artistic and cultural setting.
Plan your visit
The museum is open Tuesday through Friday from 10 am to 5 pm by appointment. Please call ahead so a docent can meet you and walk with you through the galleries. Parking is free.