Tovuzgala is a town in the Gazakh uezd of the former Yelizavetpol (Ganja) governorate, later in the former Shamshaddin (Berd) district, and currently in the Tavush province. Until the beginning of the 19th century it had been a part of the Sultanate of Shamshaddin. The provincial centre lies 54 km to the east of the town of Karvansara (Ijevan), at a height of 930 m above sea level.

The village was originally inhabited by Azerbaijanis, and following the settlement of Armenians in the region, the population gradually left the village.

The toponym was coined on the basis of the word “tov” ( having the forms “to, tu, tav, tou, tau”) used to mean “a mountain” in Turkic and the ethnonym “Uz” (oghuz) and the word “gala” used to mean “a fortress” to denote “a fortress of the mountainous Uz (Oghuz)”.

It was renamed “Berd” (a fortress) in 1920. The first component of the ancient name of the town (Tovuz) was abbreviated, the second component, the word “qala” in the meaning of “a fortress” was translated into Armenian and the settlement was named “Berd”. 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 Tavush province.

Geographic coordinates: latitude 40°52’ N., longitude 45°23’ E.