Qibla · Brittany Region
Qibla direction in Rennes
To face the Kaaba in Rennes, turn to 114.0° measured clockwise from true north, which is south-east (24.0° south of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,724 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Rennes should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 114.0°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 114°; with a classic magnetic compass, first correct for the local magnetic declination, which can shift the needle by several degrees.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Rennes
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 24.0° towards south: the result is the bearing of 114.0°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 24° off.
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. The simplest check in Rennes is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Rennes. 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 Rennes to Mecca points to 128.6° (south-east), 14.5° away from the correct 114.0°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 36 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 48.1111° N, 1.6743° W 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 Rennes to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,724 km from Rennes as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,458 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 6 h 03 min, although most pilgrims from Rennes connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Rennes 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 Rennes rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Rennes
On 257 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Rennes 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 08:45 local time.
On 77 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 (30 days), for instance on 15 May 2027 at 21:06.
| 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 | 08:45 | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 08:59 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 09:13 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 10:28 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 10:41 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 10:55 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 11:08 | 21:06 |
| 1 June 2027 | 11:21 | 20:55 |
| 15 June 2027 | 11:28 | 20:53 |
| 1 July 2027 | 11:31 | 20:58 |
| 15 July 2027 | 11:27 | 21:06 |
| 1 August 2027 | 11:15 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 10:59 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 10:36 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 10:15 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 09:51 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 09:30 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | — | — |
| 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 Rennes: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Rennes compared with other cities
Compared with Paris, 308 km away, the Qibla in Rennes is turned 5.1° further anticlockwise (114.0° against 119.2°), and Mecca is 228 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Nantes (100 km), prays towards 113.3°, a difference of 0.8°.
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 Rennes
Qibla in Rennes: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Rennes?
It is 114.0° from true north, which is south-east: 24.0° south of east.
How far is Rennes from Mecca?
4,724 km in a straight line over the globe, and 4,458 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Rennes?
On 257 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 Rennes not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 128.6°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Rennes at 114.0°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 114.0° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.