Qibla direction in Sofia

How to face the Qibla in Sofia

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 38.1° towards east: the result is the bearing of 141.9°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Sofia.

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 Sofia to Mecca points to 147.0° (south-east), 5.1° away from the correct 141.9°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 3 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 42.6975° N, 23.3242° 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 Sofia to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,819 km from Sofia as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,517 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 49 min, although most pilgrims from Sofia connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Sofia run 1 hour behind Mecca in winter and the same time as 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 Sofia rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Sofia

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Sofia 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 09:48 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Sofia 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 Sofia: at 12:18 and 12:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Sofia compared with other cities

The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Plovdiv (132 km), prays towards 143.9°, a difference of 2.1°.

Among the 6 cities in Bulgaria on this site, Sofia has the smallest Qibla bearing; the largest is 151.7° in Varna. Across the country the direction varies by 9.9°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Bulgaria.

Qibla in cities near Sofia

• Plovdiv143.9° · 132 km
• Stara Zagora146.1° · 192 km
• Rousse148.4° · 248 km
• Burgas150.0° · 340 km
• Varna151.7° · 378 km