Qibla direction in Reims

How to face the Qibla in Reims

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 31.5° towards south: the result is the bearing of 121.5°. 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 Reims.

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 Reims, 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 Reims to Mecca points to 134.2° (south-east), 12.7° away from the correct 121.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 26 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 121.5° obtained? From the coordinates of Reims (49.2653° N, 4.0285° 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 Reims to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,414 km from Reims as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,133 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 42 min, although most pilgrims from Reims connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Reims 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 Reims rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Reims

On 281 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Reims 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 08:59 local time.

On 22 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 (21 days), for instance on 15 June 2027 at 21:13.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Reims: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Reims compared with other cities

Compared with Paris, 131 km away, the Qibla in Reims is turned 2.4° further clockwise (121.5° against 119.2°), and Mecca is 83 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Marne La Vallée (112 km), prays towards 119.5°, a difference of 2.0°.

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 Reims

• Marne La Vallée119.5° · 112 km
• Paris119.2° · 131 km
• Amiens120.2° · 143 km
• Cergy-Pontoise119.0° · 144 km
• Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines118.7° · 156 km
• Metz123.9° · 157 km