Documents on Azerbaijan's history found in Vatican
By Nigar Orujova
Over 150 historical documents and manuscripts related to Azerbaijan have been found in the Vatican.
Member of the Institute of Manuscripts of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) has found 153 new historical documents and manuscripts related to Azerbaijan in the Vatican.
The academic missions of scientist Farid Alakbarli to the Vatican's Secret Archives and the Apostolic Library - which started in 2011 - ended this year.
The purpose of these missions was to find and study historical documents related to Azerbaijan in the archives of the Vatican.
The Vatican archives store valuable information on the history of Azerbaijan. More than 700 documents were examined in the secret archives as part of an effort to find 85 documents on the history of Azerbaijan. These documents were in Italian, Latin, Greek, French, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Mongolian, Armenian and other languages.
The documents date back to 10th-20th centuries. Among them, there are also letters reflecting secret correspondence of Azerbaijani rulers with popes. Other documents are related to Vatican propaganda in Azerbaijan.
Moreover, 68 ancient manuscripts associated with the medieval Azerbaijan, as well as numerous maps, were discovered as a result of examining more than 400 ancient manuscripts in the Apostolic Library.
Works by famous Azerbaijani authors Nizami, Fizuli, and Nasimi, as well as 11 works by unknown authors were discovered among these manuscripts.
The translation of works previously discovered during the studies has already started in Azerbaijan. They include letters of rulers of Elkhanid, Atabek, Aggoyunlu, Garagoyunlu, Safavid and Qajar to the Vatican and the response letters, as well as letters from the Vatican to the rulers of these states and their answers, secret reports of missionaries connected to political movements in Azerbaijan and others.
Farid Alakbarli has a PhD in historical sciences. He is the head of the Department of Translation and Information of the Institute of Manuscripts. Alakbarli is author of more than 150 scientific and educational works including 12 books and booklets in Azerbaijani, Turkish, Russian and English.
Researches on the history of Azerbaijan in the Holy See started as a result of a strong cooperation of the Vatican and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.
The foundation has been participating in several projects on restoration of the ancient Catacombs of Rome since 2012.
The catacombs of saint Marcellino and Pietro are of great importance from the point of view of attracting pilgrims and tourists. The restoration process will highlight the significance of the catacombs, the best examples of Roman artistic heritage.
In June, the foundation and the Vatican Museum signed two agreements on restoration of a monument to Zeus, and reconstruction of Sistine Chapel at the museum.