Qibla direction in Pskov

How to face the Qibla in Pskov

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 17.8° towards east: the result is the bearing of 162.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 18° 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 Pskov, 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 Pskov to Mecca points to 166.9° (south), 4.7° away from the correct 162.2°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 3 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 162.2° is the direction in which the shortest route from 57.8192° N, 28.3318° 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 Pskov to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 4,153 km from Pskov as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,816 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 23 min, although most pilgrims from Pskov connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Pskov 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 Pskov rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Pskov

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Pskov 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 11:53 local time.

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

Pskov compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 610 km away, the Qibla in Pskov is turned 14.2° further anticlockwise (162.2° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 331 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Veliky Novgorod (189 km), prays towards 166.9°, a difference of 4.7°.

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 Pskov

• Veliky Novgorod166.9° · 189 km
• Velikiye Luki165.0° · 212 km
• Kolpino166.2° · 251 km
• Saint Petersburg165.9° · 262 km
• Smolensk166.9° · 409 km
• Tver'173.7° · 466 km