Hilandar Research Library

History of HRL

Cyrillic image
Cyrillic image from HRL collection

In 1969, at the invitation of the monks of Hilandar Monastery, the Very Reverend Dr. Mateja Matejic, an assistant professor of Russian Literature and a Serbian Orthodox priest, began the remarkable task of documenting the written heritage located in the monastery's library on Mount Athos. The materials were photographed during three separate expeditions by Professor Walt Craig (1970) and Predrag Matejic (1971 and 1975).

This 20-year long undertaking of preserving and making accessible Slavic manuscripts on microfilm was known as the Hilandar Research Project. For the first time ever, manuscripts of Hilandar Monastery were accessible to scholars worldwide, including women, who have been prohibited from visiting Mount Athos since the 10th century.

In 1978, the University Libraries dedicated the "Hilandar Room" in Thompson Library to house these unique materials. On this special occasion, Father Mitrofan, an elder of Hilandar Monastery, made an historic visit – the first visit by a Hilandar monk to the US. He presented HRL with an icon of Saint Sava, one of the founders of Hilandar Monastery, which was painted by a leading iconographer of Mt Athos.

To show appreciation and support for the ongoing work by Ohio State researchers to preserve a record of manuscripts of the Slavic Cyrillic tradition, in 1981, medieval Slavic scholars from a dozen different countries gathered in Columbus to hold the inaugural International Hilandar Conference.

In 1984, the Hilandar Research Project was completed. To continue preserving, making accessible, and advancing the study, research, and teaching of Cyrillic manuscript heritage, two new units with complementary goals were created:

  • Hilandar Research Library, a University Libraries special collection charged with preserving and facilitating access to the Cyrillic manuscripts on microfilm, and
  • The Resource Center for Medieval Slavic Studies, the only non-national affiliated facility in the United States dedicated to the promotion of Cyrillic-based research.

Also in 1984, a campaign to establish the Hilandar Research Project Endowment Fund was initiated to further promote and support the study of the Slavic medieval heritage utilizing the microfilmed manuscripts.

The original HRL microfilm collections grew to more than 100 through exchange, purchase, and other microfilming projects. Over time, HRL has acquired microforms of over 5000 Slavic Cyrillic manuscripts. The collection’s several million pages of microform are considered the largest in the world.

Today, Hilandar Research Library and the Resource Center for Medieval Slavic Studies are close partners and collaborators, even sharing a space within Thompson Library. Ohio State's University Libraries gratefully acknowledge the monks of Hilandar Monastery for making it possible for us to share their heritage.