Qibla direction in Fes

How to face the Qibla in Fes

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 5.8° towards south: the result is the bearing of 95.8°. The direction is close to due east, which makes it easy to remember.

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 Fes, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Fes 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Fes to Mecca points to 107.7° (east), 11.9° away from the correct 95.8°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 27 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 95.8° obtained? From the coordinates of Fes (34.0331° N, 5.0003° W) 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 Fes to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,589 km from Fes as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,421 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 54 min, although most pilgrims from Fes connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Fes run 3 hours behind Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Fes rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Fes

On 201 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Fes while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 15 March 2027 it happens at 06:57 local time.

On 150 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 May (31 days), for instance on 15 April 2027 at 18:03.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Fes: at 09:18 and 09:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Fes compared with other cities

Compared with Rabat, 169 km away, the Qibla in Fes is turned 1.2° further clockwise (95.8° against 94.6°), and Mecca is 168 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Meknes (53 km), prays towards 95.3°, a difference of 0.5°.

Across the 34 cities in Morocco on this site, the Qibla ranges from 87.7° in Guelmim to 98.7° in Oujda, a spread of 11.0°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Morocco.

Qibla in cities near Fes

• Meknes95.3° · 53 km
• Sidi Slimane95.5° · 89 km
• Taza96.7° · 93 km
• Khemisset94.9° · 101 km
• Ksar El Kebir96.3° · 136 km
• Khenifra94.2° · 137 km