Qibla direction in Tiraspol

How to face the Qibla in Tiraspol

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 21.5° towards east: the result is the bearing of 158.5°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 21° 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. 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 Tiraspol to Mecca points to 161.9° (south), 3.4° away from the correct 158.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 1 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 46.8428° N, 29.6284° 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 Tiraspol to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,972 km from Tiraspol as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,641 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h, although most pilgrims from Tiraspol connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Tiraspol 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 Tiraspol rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Tiraspol

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Tiraspol 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 10:36 local time.

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

Tiraspol compared with other cities

Compared with Chișinău, 61 km away, the Qibla in Tiraspol is turned 1.4° further clockwise (158.5° against 157.1°), and Mecca is 39 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Chișinău (61 km), prays towards 157.1°, a difference of 1.4°.

Among the 3 cities in Moldova on this site, Tiraspol has the largest Qibla bearing; the smallest is 155.9° in Bălţi. Across the country the direction varies by 2.6°.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Moldova.

Qibla in cities near Tiraspol

• Chișinău157.1° · 61 km
• Bălţi155.9° · 164 km