Qibla direction in Aydin

How to face the Qibla in Aydin

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 35.6° towards east: the result is the bearing of 144.4°. Because the angle sits far from the cardinal points, a rough guess such as “south” would be off by more than 30°, which is why a measured bearing matters in Aydin.

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 Aydin, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Aydin is a handy reference, because the 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Aydin to Mecca points to 147.8° (south-east), 3.3° away from the correct 144.4°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is not the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

How is the figure of 144.4° obtained? From the coordinates of Aydin (37.8450° N, 27.8396° 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 Aydin to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,158 km from Aydin as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,859 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 02 min, although most pilgrims from Aydin connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Aydin 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 Aydin rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Aydin

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Aydin 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 10:46 local time.

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

Aydin compared with other cities

Compared with Ankara, 491 km away, the Qibla in Aydin is turned 15.7° further anticlockwise (144.4° against 160.1°), and Mecca is 2 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Nazilli (43 km), prays towards 145.7°, a difference of 1.3°.

Across the 85 cities in Türkiye on this site, the Qibla ranges from 143.7° in Izmir to 192.2° in Iğdır, a spread of 48.6°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Türkiye.

Qibla in cities near Aydin

• Nazilli145.7° · 43 km
• Turgutlu145.1° · 73 km
• Salihli146.2° · 76 km
• Izmir143.7° · 88 km
• Manisa144.7° · 93 km
• Denizli147.4° · 110 km