Qibla direction in Palma Soriano

How to face the Qibla in Palma Soriano

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 30.0° towards north: the result is the bearing of 60.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 30° 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 Palma Soriano, 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 Palma Soriano to Mecca points to 89.4° (east), a full 29.3° away from the true Qibla of 60.0° (north-east). The map line keeps one compass heading and is 393 km longer than the great-circle route. Because the Earth is a sphere, the shortest way to Mecca from Palma Soriano first heads north-east, and that is the direction to face.

How is the figure of 60.0° obtained? From the coordinates of Palma Soriano (20.2115° N, 75.9944° 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 Palma Soriano to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 11,646 km from Palma Soriano as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 11,460 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 14 h 12 min, although most pilgrims from Palma Soriano connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Palma Soriano run 8 hours behind Mecca in winter and 7 hours 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 Palma Soriano rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Palma Soriano

On 63 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Palma Soriano while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in June (30 days); for example, on 1 June 2027 it happens at 12:48 local time.

On 302 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 16:37.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both happen at night in Palma Soriano (05:18 and 05:27 local time), so they cannot be used here. Instead, on 13 January 2027 at 16:29 and 28 November 2027 at 16:09 the sun is over the point opposite the Kaaba, and every vertical shadow in Palma Soriano points straight to Mecca.

Palma Soriano compared with other cities

Compared with Havana, 736 km away, the Qibla in Palma Soriano is turned 4.0° further clockwise (60.0° against 56.0°), and Mecca is 389 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Santiago de Cuba (28 km), prays towards 60.2°, a difference of 0.1°.

Across the 15 cities in Cuba on this site, the Qibla ranges from 55.5° in Pinar del Río to 60.4° in Guantánamo, a spread of 4.9°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Cuba.

Qibla in cities near Palma Soriano

• Santiago de Cuba60.2° · 28 km
• Bayamo59.7° · 70 km
• Holguín59.8° · 80 km
• Guantánamo60.4° · 82 km
• Manzanillo, Granma Province, Cuba59.5° · 118 km
• Las Tunas59.4° · 130 km