Opening Hours and Holidays
Ordinary shops are open from around 9am until 7 or 8pm, possibly with a day off on Sunday, depending on the owner. Museums are generally open from 8 or 8.30am until 5 or 6pm, closed on Monday and often at lunchtime (usually 12.30-1.30pm). Archeological sites have more variable opening hours, but are generally open daily from just after sunrise until just before sunset. Mosques in busy areas stay open all the time; others open only for namaz , or Muslim prayer, five times a day. It's a courtesy for both men and women to cover their legs before entering a mosque - shorts are considered offensive - and for women to cover their heads. You should always take off your shoes at the door. The two religious holidays are the Seker Bayram (Sugar Holiday), which marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan (Dec 6-8, 2002), and Kurban Bayram (the Feast of the Sacrifice) which falls about six weeks later (March 5-8, 2003). Confusingly, if either fall midweek the government may choose to extend the holiday period to as much as nine days - announcing it only a couple of weeks beforehand. In main tourist destinations, museums generally stay open but in smaller towns they may close. Many shops and restaurants also close as their owners return to their home towns for the holiday. (Note that the first morning of Kurban Bayram sees the public slaughter and dismemberment of a phenomenal number of sheep, cows and goats - not a sight for the faint-hearted.) Four secular holidays involve the closure of banks and public offices: Jan 1; May 19 (Ataturk's birthday); Aug 30 (victory over the Greeks in 1922); and Oct 29 (proclamation of the republic). At 9.05am on Nov 10 (anniversary of Ataturk's death), sirens sound all over the country and you will be expected to stop whatever you're doing and maintain a minute's respectful silence.
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