Qibla direction in Zelenograd

How to face the Qibla in Zelenograd

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 4.3° towards east: the result is the bearing of 175.7°. The direction is close to due south, 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 Zelenograd, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Zelenograd to Mecca points to 176.7°, only 1.0° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 175.7° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 175.7° obtained? From the coordinates of Zelenograd (55.9825° N, 37.1814° E) 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 Zelenograd to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,849 km from Zelenograd as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,510 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 02 min, although most pilgrims from Zelenograd connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Zelenograd run the same time as Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Zelenograd rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Zelenograd

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Zelenograd 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 12:16 local time.

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

Zelenograd compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 37 km away, the Qibla in Zelenograd is turned 0.7° further anticlockwise (175.7° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 27 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Khimki (18 km), prays towards 176.1°, a difference of 0.4°.

Across the 158 cities in Russia on this site, the Qibla ranges from 148.7° in Kaliningrad to 305.3° in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, a spread of 156.6°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Russia.

Qibla in cities near Zelenograd

• Khimki176.1° · 18 km
• Mytishchi176.6° · 35 km
• Odintsovo175.8° · 35 km
• Moscow176.4° · 37 km
• Shchyolkovo177.0° · 50 km
• Lyubertsy176.8° · 56 km