Qibla direction in Elbasan

How to face the Qibla in Elbasan

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 43.7° towards south: the result is the bearing of 133.7°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Elbasan.

Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. The simplest check in Elbasan is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Elbasan. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Elbasan to Mecca points to 139.6° (south-east), 5.9° away from the correct 133.7°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 4 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 41.1114° N, 20.0822° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.

Distance from Elbasan to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,869 km from Elbasan as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,588 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 53 min, although most pilgrims from Elbasan connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Elbasan run 2 hours behind Mecca in winter and 1 hour behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Elbasan rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Elbasan

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Elbasan while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in January (31 days); for example, on 1 January 2027 it happens at 08:21 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Elbasan during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Elbasan: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Elbasan compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Tirana (133.6°), and Mecca is 33 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Tirana (33 km), prays towards 133.6°, a difference of 0.1°.

Among the 4 cities in Albania on this site, Elbasan has the largest Qibla bearing; the smallest is 131.7° in Vlorë. Across the country the direction varies by 2.0°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Albania.

Qibla in cities near Elbasan

• Tirana133.6° · 33 km
• Durrës133.0° · 58 km
• Vlorë131.7° · 87 km