Boyuk Shishtepe is a village in the Alexandropol uezd of the former Iravan governorate, in the former Gizil Goch (Gukasyan), on the left side of the Arpachay, opposite the village of Kichik Shishtepe, and currently in the Shirak province. The provincial centre lies 40 km to the north of the town of Gumru, and at a height of 1,990 m above sea level. “The Iravan Province Review Book” points out that the village of Shishtepe in the liva of Shorayel (Shryuegel) is a timar under the name of Osman with an income of 4,000 akchas.

In May 1918 the Armenian armed groups led by Andranik committed genocide in the village of Shishtepe. Few people managed to survive from the massacres. Since 1920 the Armenian families coming from Türkiye had been settled in the village. The Turkish cemetery had survived until recently at the foot of Shishtepe Mountain.

The toponym was formed by combining the word “shish” used in Azerbaijani in the meaning of “the peak, the highest point of a mountain, hill” and the word “tepe” used in the sense of “a small mountain”. It was renamed “Mets Sepasar” by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 12 November 1946. According to the law “On the administrative-territorial division of the Republic of Armenia” dated 7 November 1995, it was integrated into the administrative area of the Shirak province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 41°02’ N., longitude: 43°49′ E.