Central District (Saqqez County)

The Central District of Saqqez County (Persian: بخش مرکزی شهرستان سقز‎‎) is a district (bakhsh) in Saqqez County, Kurdistan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 163,999, in 37,714 families. The district has one city: Saqqez. The District has four rural districts (dehestan): Mir Deh Rural District, Sara Rural District, Tamugheh Rural District, and Torjan Rural District. Seqiz is a Kurdish city on the Zagros mountains in Iran. This city Seqiz was once the Scythian capital.

Seqiz is situated on the banks of the Seqiz river in the north-western part of Iran, south west of the Urmiye lake, on the Zagros mountains. Seqiz was originally found during the first Med empire, and at that time was called Izirta/Izirna. As the city was a Median capital, army bases, temples, and forts were built in the surrounding sites (Zewiye, Qeplantu, Aramait). When Sarken II the Assyrian king concurred Izirta, he ordered the destruction of the city, and consequently when rebuilt by the Scythians, Seqiz was renamed to Seka, later to Sakiz, and the final deformation of the name became Seqiz. Historically religious importance of Seqiz is evident given that two important Mannai, and Sassanid temples are located in the proximity. The latter was particularly prominent, as it is believed that the Sassanid kings were traveling to this temple by foot once a year. Various forms of folklore tales, and songs, further add that natives of this region were generally Zoroastrians. Not long time ago, the "modern" Seqiz was reconstructed on two major hills separated by Weli Xan river. This divides the city into two major parts, Naw Qela and Serpeche. Naw Qela (The Fort) hosted an ancient fort on a height, indicating that this has been a possible place of ancient rulers. Till very recently the fort was used for public ceremonies, particularly at the new year (Newroz) evenings, fireworks along with traditional games were organized. The geographical position of Seqiz endow particular up to date importance. 200 km from Sine (Sanandaj), 60 km from Bane (Baneh), 33 km from Bokan, and 139 km from Meriwan. These cities are links to four distinctly different kurdish regions, and this fact has given arise to a well balanced influence of cultural nuances. The cultural life in Seqiz is very rich and plays a pivotal role for other kurdish regions. Musically, activities in Seqiz have been of primary importance for development of singers such as Hesen Zirek, Qale Mare, Mezher Xaleqi, Naser Rezazi, and native musicians such as Zeze brothers, Sei Muhammad Safai and Muhammad Nahid.

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