Qibla direction in Brăila

How to face the Qibla in Brăila

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 26.1° towards east: the result is the bearing of 153.9°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 26° off.

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 Brăila, 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 Brăila to Mecca points to 157.7° (south), 3.8° away from the correct 153.9°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 2 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 153.9° is the direction in which the shortest route from 45.2715° N, 27.9743° 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 Brăila to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,864 km from Brăila as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,539 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 52 min, although most pilgrims from Brăila connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Brăila 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 Brăila rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Brăila

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Brăila 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 10:23 local time.

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

Brăila compared with other cities

Compared with Bucharest, 174 km away, the Qibla in Brăila is turned 4.6° further clockwise (153.9° against 149.3°), and Mecca is 12 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Galati (19 km), prays towards 154.2°, a difference of 0.3°.

Across the 20 cities in Romania on this site, the Qibla ranges from 141.8° in Timișoara to 154.8° in Iași, a spread of 13.0°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Romania.

Qibla in cities near Brăila

• Galati154.2° · 19 km
• Buzău151.5° · 90 km
• Constanța154.2° · 132 km
• Ploieşti149.7° · 158 km
• Bacau153.0° · 166 km
• Bucharest149.3° · 174 km