Qibla direction in Marīvān

How to face the Qibla in Marīvān

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 23.2° towards west: the result is the bearing of 203.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 23° 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 Marīvān, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Marīvān is a handy reference, because the 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Marīvān to Mecca points to 201.5°, only 1.7° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 203.2° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 203.2° obtained? From the coordinates of Marīvān (35.5183° N, 46.1830° 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 Marīvān to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,685 km from Marīvān as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,381 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 29 min, although most pilgrims from Marīvān connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Marīvān run 0.5 hours ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Marīvān rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Marīvān

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Marīvān 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 13:58 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Marīvān 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 Marīvān: at 12:48 and 12:57 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Marīvān compared with other cities

Compared with Tehran, 474 km away, the Qibla in Marīvān is turned 15.3° further anticlockwise (203.2° against 218.5°), and Mecca is 261 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Bāneh (60 km), prays towards 201.6°, a difference of 1.7°.

Across the 90 cities in Iran on this site, the Qibla ranges from 195.9° in Khoy to 257.6° in Iranshahr, a spread of 61.7°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Iran.

Qibla in cities near Marīvān

• Bāneh201.6° · 60 km
• Sanandaj206.2° · 77 km
• Saqqez202.5° · 82 km
• Būkān201.9° · 112 km
• Mahabad200.1° · 144 km
• Kermanshah208.2° · 156 km