Qibla direction in Kastamonu

How to face the Qibla in Kastamonu

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 16.2° towards east: the result is the bearing of 163.8°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 16° off.

Scholars agree that someone who can see the Kaaba must face it exactly, while someone far away faces its direction (jihat al-Ka‘bah) as precisely as reasonably possible. The simplest check in Kastamonu is a local mosque: its mihrab and prayer lines already point to the Qibla. See the mosques of Kastamonu. At home, mark the direction once with tape or a small arrow so the whole family prays the same way.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Kastamonu to Mecca points to 165.6°, only 1.8° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 163.8° bearing remains the exact one.

The angle on this page is the initial bearing of the great circle from 41.3781° N, 33.7753° E to the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E). It is the method used by mosque architects and by every serious Qibla calculator, and it gives one exact answer for each point on Earth.

Distance from Kastamonu to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,291 km from Kastamonu as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,956 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 12 min, although most pilgrims from Kastamonu connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Kastamonu 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 Kastamonu rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Kastamonu

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Kastamonu 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 11:44 local time.

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

Kastamonu compared with other cities

Compared with Ankara, 180 km away, the Qibla in Kastamonu is turned 3.7° further clockwise (163.8° against 160.1°), and Mecca is 130 km farther away. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Karabük (98 km), prays towards 160.7°, a difference of 3.1°.

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 Kastamonu

• Karabük160.7° · 98 km
• Çorum166.3° · 135 km
• Zonguldak158.9° · 165 km
• Kirikkale161.8° · 172 km
• Ankara160.1° · 180 km
• Amasya168.8° · 191 km