Qibla · Apulia
Qibla direction in Foggia
To face the Kaaba in Foggia, turn to 127.0° measured clockwise from true north, which is south-east (37.0° south of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 3,183 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Foggia should follow.
On the compass the green needle points to 127.0°. If your phone shows true north, rotate until the heading reads 127°; 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 Foggia
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 37.0° towards south: the result is the bearing of 127.0°. 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 Foggia.
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. If a mosque is nearby, its mihrab and prayer lines are the easiest reference, since they were set when the building was laid out. 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 Foggia to Mecca points to 134.3° (south-east), 7.3° away from the correct 127.0°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 7 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 41.4585° N, 15.5519° E 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 Foggia to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 3,183 km from Foggia as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,916 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 15 min, although most pilgrims from Foggia connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Foggia 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 Foggia rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Foggia
On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Foggia 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 08:02 local time.
The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Foggia during daylight, so the shadow method does not apply here; the left-hand column is the one to use.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | 08:02 | — |
| 15 January 2027 | 08:14 | — |
| 1 February 2027 | 08:33 | — |
| 15 February 2027 | 08:48 | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 09:02 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 09:15 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 10:30 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 10:42 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 10:56 | — |
| 15 May 2027 | 11:08 | — |
| 1 June 2027 | 11:21 | — |
| 15 June 2027 | 11:28 | — |
| 1 July 2027 | 11:31 | — |
| 15 July 2027 | 11:27 | — |
| 1 August 2027 | 11:15 | — |
| 15 August 2027 | 11:00 | — |
| 1 September 2027 | 10:38 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 10:17 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 09:53 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | 09:33 | — |
| 1 November 2027 | 08:12 | — |
| 15 November 2027 | 07:59 | — |
| 1 December 2027 | 07:52 | — |
| 15 December 2027 | 07:52 | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Foggia: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Foggia compared with other cities
Compared with Rome, 257 km away, the Qibla in Foggia is turned 3.7° further clockwise (127.0° against 123.3°), and Mecca is 234 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Salerno (108 km), prays towards 124.7°, a difference of 2.3°.
Across the 42 cities in Italy on this site, the Qibla ranges from 115.2° in Cagliari to 130.0° in Trieste, a spread of 14.8°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Italy.
Qibla in cities near Foggia
Qibla in Foggia: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Foggia?
It is 127.0° from true north, which is south-east: 37.0° south of east.
How far is Foggia from Mecca?
3,183 km in a straight line over the globe, and 2,916 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Foggia?
On 365 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 Foggia not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 134.3°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Foggia at 127.0°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 127.0° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.
