Qibla direction in Legnica

How to face the Qibla in Legnica

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 40.6° towards east: the result is the bearing of 139.4°. 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 Legnica.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Legnica, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of a local mosque is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Legnica to Mecca points to 148.0° (south-east), 8.6° away from the correct 139.4°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 10 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 value of 139.4° is the direction in which the shortest route from 51.2101° N, 16.1619° E sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Legnica to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,895 km from Legnica as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,583 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 05 min, although most pilgrims from Legnica connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Legnica 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 Legnica rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Legnica

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Legnica 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 09:00 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Legnica 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 Legnica: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Legnica compared with other cities

Compared with Warsaw, 353 km away, the Qibla in Legnica is turned 8.2° further anticlockwise (139.4° against 147.6°), and Mecca is 108 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Wałbrzych (50 km), prays towards 139.2°, a difference of 0.2°.

Across the 33 cities in Poland on this site, the Qibla ranges from 139.1° in Szczecin to 151.6° in Bialystok, a spread of 12.6°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Poland.

Qibla in cities near Legnica

• Wałbrzych139.2° · 50 km
• Wroclaw140.6° · 62 km
• Zielona Góra139.1° · 93 km
• Opole141.5° · 137 km
• Poznan141.6° · 143 km
• Kalisz142.7° · 147 km