Boyuk Vedi is a village in the Iravan uezd of the former Iravan governorate, in the area of Vedibasar, a town in the former Vedi (Ararat) district, and currently in the Ararat province. The provincial centre lies 18 km to the southeast of the town of Gamarli (Artashat), by the Vedibasar River, at a height of 880 m above sea level. It was mentioned in “The Iravan Province Comprehensive Data Book” dated 1590, in “The Iravan Province Review Book” dated 1728, and on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

The village was solely inhabited by Azerbaijanis: 799 in 1831, 1,743 in 1873, 2,110 in 1886, 2,792 in 1897 and 2,672 Azerbaijanis in 1914. In 1919 the Azerbaijanis had to desert the village as a result of the massacres committed by the Armenian armed units, and found refuge in the territory of Iran for a while. In the 1920s the Armenians removed from Türkiye were settled in the village. The village was populated by 1,504 Azerbaijanis, 453 Armenians in 1922, 1,545 Azerbaijanis, 261 Armenians in 1926, 1,254 Azerbaijanis, 214 Armenians in 1931. In 1972 there were 5,624 Azerbaijanis and Armenians living together there. In November 1988 the Azerbaijanis were massacred or driven out by the state of Armenia. At present, only Armenians live there.

The toponym was coined by combining the word “boyuk” denoting a distinguishing feature and the word “vadi” used in Arabic in the sense of “a long canyon between two mountains”, “an estuary”, “a field, desert”, “an area”, “space, place”. The name of the settlement has been used as “Mets Vedi” in Armenian through calque.

It was renamed “Vedi” by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 4 April 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 Ararat province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude: 39°54’ N., longitude: 44°43’ E.