Qibla direction in Tallinn

How to face the Qibla in Tallinn

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 22.4° towards east: the result is the bearing of 157.6°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 22° 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 Tallinn, 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 Tallinn to Mecca points to 164.0° (south), 6.3° away from the correct 157.6°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 6 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 157.6° obtained? From the coordinates of Tallinn (59.4370° N, 24.7535° 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 Tallinn to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,393 km from Tallinn as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,057 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 40 min, although most pilgrims from Tallinn connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Tallinn 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 Tallinn rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Tallinn

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Tallinn 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 10:47 local time.

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

Tallinn compared with other cities

See all cities on the Qibla page for Estonia.