Qibla direction in Pilsen

How to face the Qibla in Pilsen

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 44.0° towards south: the result is the bearing of 134.0°. 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 Pilsen.

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 Pilsen to Mecca points to 143.4° (south-east), 9.4° away from the correct 134.0°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 12 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 49.7475° N, 13.3776° 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 Pilsen to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,912 km from Pilsen as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,611 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 06 min, although most pilgrims from Pilsen connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Pilsen 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 Pilsen rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Pilsen

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Pilsen 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 08:45 local time.

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

Pilsen compared with other cities

Compared with Prague, 84 km away, the Qibla in Pilsen is turned 1.8° further anticlockwise (134.0° against 135.8°), and Mecca is 26 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Prague (84 km), prays towards 135.8°, a difference of 1.8°.

Among the 5 cities in the Czechia on this site, Pilsen has the smallest Qibla bearing; the largest is 141.3° in Ostrava. Across the country the direction varies by 7.3°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Czechia.

Qibla in cities near Pilsen

• Prague135.8° · 84 km
• Liberec137.4° · 165 km
• Brno138.1° · 241 km
• Ostrava141.3° · 352 km