Qibla direction in Ulyanovsk

How to face the Qibla in Ulyanovsk

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 14.5° towards west: the result is the bearing of 194.5°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 15° 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 Ulyanovsk, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of one of the mosques of Ulyanovsk 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 Ulyanovsk to Mecca points to 191.3° (south), 3.3° away from the correct 194.5°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 1 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 194.5° is the direction in which the shortest route from 54.3282° N, 48.3866° 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 Ulyanovsk to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,729 km from Ulyanovsk as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,399 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 53 min, although most pilgrims from Ulyanovsk connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Ulyanovsk run 1 hour ahead of Mecca all year. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Ulyanovsk rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Ulyanovsk

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Ulyanovsk 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 13:52 local time.

The sun is never opposite the Qibla of Ulyanovsk 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 Ulyanovsk: at 13:18 and 13:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Ulyanovsk compared with other cities

Compared with Moscow, 703 km away, the Qibla in Ulyanovsk is turned 18.2° further clockwise (194.5° against 176.4°), and Mecca is 92 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Dimitrovgrad (81 km), prays towards 196.6°, a difference of 2.1°.

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 Ulyanovsk

• Dimitrovgrad196.6° · 81 km
• Tolyatti196.5° · 109 km
• Syzran195.1° · 130 km
• Kazan’195.2° · 169 km
• Samara197.9° · 170 km
• Novokuybyshevsk197.7° · 171 km