Qibla direction in Rijeka

How to face the Qibla in Rijeka

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 40.5° towards south: the result is the bearing of 130.5°. 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 Rijeka.

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 Rijeka, 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Rijeka to Mecca points to 138.8° (south-east), 8.3° away from the correct 130.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 9 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.

How is the figure of 130.5° obtained? From the coordinates of Rijeka (45.3267° N, 14.4424° E) 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 Rijeka to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,522 km from Rijeka as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,237 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 39 min, although most pilgrims from Rijeka connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Rijeka 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 Rijeka rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Rijeka

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Rijeka 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 08:24 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Rijeka 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 Rijeka: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Rijeka compared with other cities

Compared with Zagreb, 131 km away, the Qibla in Rijeka is turned 2.9° further anticlockwise (130.5° against 133.4°), and Mecca is 53 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Zagreb (131 km), prays towards 133.4°, a difference of 2.9°.

Among the 3 cities in Croatia on this site, Rijeka has the smallest Qibla bearing; the largest is 133.4° in Zagreb. Across the country the direction varies by 2.9°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Croatia.

Qibla in cities near Rijeka

• Zagreb133.4° · 131 km
• Split131.2° · 257 km