Qibla direction in Sanliurfa

How to face the Qibla in Sanliurfa

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 3.5° towards east: the result is the bearing of 176.5°. The direction is close to due south, which makes it easy to remember.

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 Sanliurfa, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Sanliurfa 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 Sanliurfa to Mecca points to 176.7°, only 0.3° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 176.5° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 176.5° obtained? From the coordinates of Sanliurfa (37.1671° N, 38.7939° 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 Sanliurfa to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,754 km from Sanliurfa as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,414 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 34 min, although most pilgrims from Sanliurfa connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Sanliurfa 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 Sanliurfa rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Sanliurfa

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Sanliurfa 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 12:15 local time.

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

Sanliurfa compared with other cities

Compared with Ankara, 600 km away, the Qibla in Sanliurfa is turned 16.3° further clockwise (176.5° against 160.1°), and Mecca is 407 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Suruç (39 km), prays towards 175.1°, 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 Sanliurfa

• Suruç175.1° · 39 km
• Siverek178.3° · 80 km
• Adıyaman174.9° · 81 km
• Viranşehir179.8° · 85 km
• Gaziantep171.6° · 126 km
• Malatya175.2° · 138 km