The largest repository of Armenian manuscripts and books from the past three centuries — playscripts, theatre archives, photographs, personal letters, costumes, set designs. Named for the poet Yeghishe Charents, executed in the Stalinist purges of 1937, whose archive forms one of the collection's pillars.
Displays change regularly; some are interesting (early 20th-century Armenian avant-garde theatre, in particular), others quite specialised. For visitors with an interest in Armenian literature and theatre history, it is essential; for casual visitors, it depends what is on.