Gizgala is a village in the Borchali uezd of the former Tiflis governorate, later in the former Vorontsovka (Kalinino) district, and currently in the Lori province. The provincial centre lies 2 km to the southeast of the town of Boyuk Garakilsa (Vanadzor), at a height of 1,470 m above sea level. It is marked in the works of Armenian authors as “Gizgala”.

The village was originally inhabited by Azerbaijanis, and following the settlement of the Armenians in the area, the population moved to Türkiye.

The toponym was coined by combining the word “gala” (fortress) and the ethnonym “Giz” (ghuz), which reflects the ethnonym “Oghuz” in Arabic, and means “a village adjacent to the Oghuz fortress”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 25 January 1978, the village was renamed “Getavan”. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative territory of the Lori province.

Geographical coordinates: latitude: 41°03’ N., longitude: 44°20’ E.