Qibla direction in Thessaloniki

How to face the Qibla in Thessaloniki

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 41.8° towards east: the result is the bearing of 138.2°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 40°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Thessaloniki.

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 Thessaloniki, 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 Thessaloniki to Mecca points to 143.2° (south-east), 5.0° away from the correct 138.2°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 3 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 138.2° obtained? From the coordinates of Thessaloniki (40.6407° N, 22.9349° 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 Thessaloniki to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,665 km from Thessaloniki as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,374 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 38 min, although most pilgrims from Thessaloniki connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Thessaloniki 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 Thessaloniki rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Thessaloniki

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Thessaloniki 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 09:33 local time.

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

Thessaloniki compared with other cities

Compared with Athens, Attica, Greece, 303 km away, the Qibla in Thessaloniki is turned 2.8° further clockwise (138.2° against 135.5°), and Mecca is 262 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Larissa (121 km), prays towards 135.7°, a difference of 2.6°.

Among the 5 cities in Greece on this site, Thessaloniki has the largest Qibla bearing; the smallest is 132.1° in Pátrai. Across the country the direction varies by 6.2°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Greece.

Qibla in cities near Thessaloniki

• Larissa135.7° · 121 km
• Pátrai132.1° · 285 km
• Athens, Attica, Greece135.5° · 303 km
• Heraklion133.3° · 622 km