Boyuk Sariyal is a village in the Alexandropol uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Duzkend (Akhuryan) district, and currently in the Shirak province. The provincial centre lies 18 km to the northeast of the town of Gumru, and at a height of 1,880 m above sea level. It had been under the subordination of the former Gumru (Leninakan) district until 1937. Another name for the village was Saral.

The village was initially inhabited by Azerbaijanis, who gradually left it after Armenians had been removed from Türkiye and settled in the village in accordance with the Treaty of Adrianople (1829).

The toponym was coined by combining the word “boyuk” denoting a distinguishing feature with the word “sara” (sarı) used in Old Turkic in the sense of “a low land, field, area” and the word “yal” in the meaning of “the slope of a mountain”, “a mountain passage, hill”, used in Modern Literary Azerbaijani in the sense of “the top of a high place”, “a hillock”, “the top of a slope”.

The village was renamed “Mets Sariar” by decision of the Armenian SSR Presidium of the Supreme Soviet dated 2 March 1940. 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: 40°53’ N., longitude: 43°57’ E.