Qibla · Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Qibla direction in Dijon
To face the Kaaba in Dijon, turn to 120.6° measured clockwise from true north, which is south-east (30.6° south of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,239 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Dijon should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 120.6°, the Qibla of Dijon. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 121° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Dijon
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 30.6° towards south: the result is the bearing of 120.6°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “east” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Dijon.
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 Dijon, 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 Dijon to Mecca points to 132.5° (south-east), 11.9° away from the correct 120.6°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 22 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 120.6° obtained? From the coordinates of Dijon (47.3134° N, 5.0139° 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 Dijon to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,239 km from Dijon as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,966 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 29 min, although most pilgrims from Dijon connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Dijon 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 Dijon rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Dijon
On 282 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Dijon while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 15 February 2027 it happens at 08:52 local time.
On 25 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 June (22 days), for instance on 15 June 2027 at 21:04.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | 08:52 | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 09:05 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 09:18 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 10:32 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 10:44 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 10:57 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 11:08 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | 11:21 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 11:28 | 21:04 |
| 1 July 2027 | 11:30 | 21:08 |
| 15 July 2027 | 11:27 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 11:16 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 11:01 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 10:39 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 10:19 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 09:56 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 09:36 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | 08:16 | — |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Dijon: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Dijon compared with other cities
Compared with Paris, 262 km away, the Qibla in Dijon is turned 1.4° further clockwise (120.6° against 119.2°), and Mecca is 257 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Besançon (76 km), prays towards 121.7°, a difference of 1.1°.
Across the 37 cities in France on this site, the Qibla ranges from 111.4° in Brest, Brittany Region, France to 125.3° in Strasbourg, a spread of 13.8°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for France.
Qibla in cities near Dijon
Qibla in Dijon: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Dijon?
It is 120.6° from true north, which is south-east: 30.6° south of east.
How far is Dijon from Mecca?
4,239 km in a straight line over the globe, and 3,966 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Dijon?
On 282 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Dijon not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 132.5°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Dijon at 120.6°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 120.6° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.