Qibla direction in La Plata

How to face the Qibla in La Plata

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 13.8° towards north: the result is the bearing of 76.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 14° off.

Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in La Plata, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

This is a place where maps mislead badly: a straight line on a flat map from La Plata to Mecca points to 58.8° (north-east), a full 17.4° away from the true Qibla of 76.2° (east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 58 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from La Plata first heads east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 76.2° obtained? From the coordinates of La Plata (34.9213° S, 57.9544° W) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.

Distance from La Plata to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 12,032 km from La Plata as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 12,186 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 14 h 39 min, although most pilgrims from La Plata connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in La Plata run 6 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of La Plata rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in La Plata

On 225 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of La Plata 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 10:44 local time.

On 105 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 18:13.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in La Plata (06:18 and 06:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 18:29 and 28 November 2027 at 18:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in La Plata points straight to Mecca.

La Plata compared with other cities

The Qibla here is practically the same as in Buenos Aires (76.3°), and Mecca is 29 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Quilmes (35 km), prays towards 76.2°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 34 cities in Argentina on this site, the Qibla ranges from 73.1° in Posadas to 86.4° in Comodoro Rivadavia, a spread of 13.3°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Argentina.

Qibla in cities near La Plata

• Quilmes76.2° · 35 km
• Buenos Aires76.3° · 52 km
• Laferrere76.4° · 61 km
• Merlo76.5° · 76 km
• Jose C. Paz76.4° · 87 km
• San Nicolás de los Arroyos76.7° · 273 km