Qibla direction in Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles

How to face the Qibla in Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards north and move a further 29.9° towards west: the result is the bearing of 330.1°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at north would leave you about 30° off.

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 Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles, 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 Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles to Mecca points to 329.5°, only 0.6° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 330.1° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 330.1° obtained? From the coordinates of Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles (4.6200° S, 55.4550° 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 Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,360 km from Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 3,661 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 27 min, although most pilgrims from Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles 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 Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles

On 209 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in May (31 days); for example, on 15 March 2027 it happens at 12:33 local time.

On 155 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in January (31 days), for instance on 1 January 2027 at 11:36.

Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles: at 13:18 and 13:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.

Victoria, La Rivière Anglaise, Seychelles compared with other cities

See all cities on the Qibla page for Seychelles.