Gizilkilsa is a village in the Alexandropol uezd of the former Iravan governorate, later in the former Gizil Goch (Gukasyan) district, and currently in the Shirak province. The provincial centre lies 32 km to the north of the town of Gumru, at a height of 1,990 m above sea level. The name of the village is marked as “Gizilkilsa qarapapag” in the works of Armenian authors, and as “Gizilkilsa” in “The Iravan Province Review Book” and on the five-verst map of the Caucasus.

Since the Garapapak tribe lived in the village, the settlement was also called “Garapapak Gizilkilsasi” and “Turkic Gizilkilsa”. The village was inhabited only by Azerbaijanis – 210 in 1886, 279 in 1897, 293 in 1908 and 339 Azerbaijanis in 1914. In May 1918 the villagers were attacked by Armenian armed forces and left the village. The surviving Azerbaijanis who fled the village managed to return to their historical and ethnic lands following the establishment of Soviet power in present-day Armenia. The village was inhabited by 39 Azerbaijanis in 1922, 148 in 1926 and 168 Azerbaijanis in 1931. Later, the Azerbaijanis left the village completely. Currently, the village is inhabited only by Armenians.

The toponym was coined by combining the word “gizil”, which implies “red”, and the word “kilsa”, which implies “a religious temple”.

By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Armenian SSR dated 3 January 1935, the village was renamed “Karmravan”. 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.

Geographical coordinates: latitude: 41°00’ N., longitude: 43°52’ E.