Turkish village breaks fast at two different times across one street
Iftar time on both sides of the village coincides during the first 4 days of the month
Dubai: Residents of a small Turkish village are breaking their fast at two different times, even though they live only a few metres apart.
A narrow road, no more than seven metres wide, divides the settlement administratively into two halves belonging to different provinces. The result is a one-minute difference in the Maghrib call to prayer, and therefore in the time of iftar, on each side of the street.
One side falls under the village of Şentepe in Ordu province on the Black Sea coast, while the opposite side belongs to Ambartepe in neighbouring Samsun province, according to Emarat Al Youm.
What appears to be a minor administrative boundary on official maps has shaped daily life for decades, particularly during the holy month of Ramadan.
Each side of the road has its own mosque, following the official prayer timetable of its respective province. At sunset, the call to prayer is heard first in Şentepe, based on Ordu’s astronomical calculations, while the nearby mosque in Ambartepe follows roughly a minute later according to Samsun’s schedule.
The difference stems from precise geographic and astronomical factors, including variations in longitude and officially adopted calculation methods for sunset times.
According to this year’s Ramadan timetable, the iftar time on both sides of the village coincides only during the first four days of the month, before diverging for the remainder. Despite this, residents say the situation has never caused disagreement or tension. Instead, it has become part of the community’s rhythm.
When families from opposite sides invite each other for iftar, they simply gather around one table and break their fast together at a single agreed time, while most residents follow the call to prayer from the mosque serving their area.
Engin Arslan, Head of Şentepe village, said the issue is “a simple matter of geography,” noting that residents have adapted to it since settling in the area nearly 80 years ago.
