Qibla · Ceará
Qibla direction in Fortaleza
To face the Kaaba in Fortaleza, turn to 67.6° measured clockwise from true north, which is east (22.4° north of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 8,961 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Fortaleza should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 67.6°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 68°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Fortaleza
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 22.4° towards north: the result is the bearing of 67.6°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 22° off.
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. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. 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 Fortaleza to Mecca points to 71.9° (east), 4.3° away from the correct 67.6°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 23 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 3.7172° S, 38.5431° W 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 Fortaleza to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 8,961 km from Fortaleza as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 8,986 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 11 h 03 min, although most pilgrims from Fortaleza connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Fortaleza 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 Fortaleza rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Fortaleza
On 163 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Fortaleza while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 15 March 2027 it happens at 11:27 local time.
On 132 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 November (30 days), for instance on 15 January 2027 at 15:35.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | 15:35 |
| 1 February 2027 | — | 14:20 |
| 15 February 2027 | — | 13:21 |
| 1 March 2027 | — | 12:24 |
| 15 March 2027 | 11:27 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 10:18 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 09:21 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 08:16 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 07:16 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | — | — |
| 15 June 2027 | — | — |
| 1 July 2027 | — | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 06:23 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 07:41 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 08:37 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 09:38 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 10:25 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 11:19 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | — | 12:09 |
| 1 November 2027 | — | 13:14 |
| 15 November 2027 | — | 14:16 |
| 1 December 2027 | — | 15:40 |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Fortaleza: at 06:18 and 06:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Fortaleza compared with other cities
Compared with Brasília, 1,689 km away, the Qibla in Fortaleza is turned 1.2° further anticlockwise (67.6° against 68.8°), and Mecca is 1,457 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Maracanaú (20 km), prays towards 67.5°, the same bearing to the tenth of a degree.
Across the 257 cities in Brazil on this site, the Qibla ranges from 66.1° in Maceió to 74.2° in Uruguaiana, a spread of 8.1°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Brazil.
Qibla in cities near Fortaleza
Qibla in Fortaleza: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Fortaleza?
It is 67.6° from true north, which is east: 22.4° north of east.
How far is Fortaleza from Mecca?
8,961 km in a straight line over the globe, and 8,986 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Fortaleza?
On 163 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Fortaleza not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 71.9°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Fortaleza at 67.6°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 67.6° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.