Qibla direction in Kislovodsk

How to face the Qibla in Kislovodsk

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 7.0° towards west: the result is the bearing of 187.0°. 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 Kislovodsk, 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 Kislovodsk to Mecca points to 186.1°, only 0.9° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 187.0° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 187.0° obtained? From the coordinates of Kislovodsk (43.9133° N, 42.7208° 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 Kislovodsk to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,515 km from Kislovodsk as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,181 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 28 min, although most pilgrims from Kislovodsk connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Kislovodsk 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 Kislovodsk rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Kislovodsk

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Kislovodsk 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 12:41 local time.

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

Kislovodsk compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 1,365 km away, the Qibla in Kislovodsk is turned 10.7° further clockwise (187.0° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 1,307 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Pyatigorsk (30 km), prays towards 187.8°, a difference of 0.7°.

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 Kislovodsk

• Pyatigorsk187.8° · 30 km
• Cherkessk185.3° · 64 km
• Nal'chik189.3° · 86 km
• Nevinnomyssk185.0° · 101 km
• Stavropol185.0° · 138 km
• Armavir183.0° · 176 km