Qibla direction in Tarsus

How to face the Qibla in Tarsus

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 16.8° towards east: the result is the bearing of 163.2°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 17° 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 Tarsus, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Tarsus 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

On a flat (Mercator) map, the straight line from Tarsus to Mecca points to 164.5°, only 1.3° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 163.2° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 163.2° obtained? From the coordinates of Tarsus (36.9177° N, 34.8928° 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 Tarsus to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,788 km from Tarsus as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,456 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 36 min, although most pilgrims from Tarsus connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Tarsus 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 Tarsus rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Tarsus

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Tarsus 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 11:40 local time.

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

Tarsus compared with other cities

Compared with Ankara, 378 km away, the Qibla in Tarsus is turned 3.1° further clockwise (163.2° against 160.1°), and Mecca is 373 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Mersin (25 km), prays towards 162.3°, a difference of 0.9°.

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 Tarsus

• Mersin162.3° · 25 km
• Adana164.7° · 39 km
• Heraclea161.1° · 100 km
• Silifke159.5° · 104 km
• Arsuz166.1° · 105 km
• İskenderun167.2° · 120 km