Qibla direction in Siverek

How to face the Qibla in Siverek

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 1.7° towards east: the result is the bearing of 178.3°. 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 Siverek, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. Any of the mosques of Siverek 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 Siverek to Mecca points to 178.5°, only 0.1° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 178.3° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 178.3° obtained? From the coordinates of Siverek (37.7550° N, 39.3167° 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 Siverek to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 1,817 km from Siverek as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 1,478 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 2 h 38 min, although most pilgrims from Siverek connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Siverek 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 Siverek rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Siverek

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Siverek 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 12:20 local time.

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

Siverek compared with other cities

Compared with Ankara, 609 km away, the Qibla in Siverek is turned 18.2° further clockwise (178.3° against 160.1°), and Mecca is 344 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Viranşehir (71 km), prays towards 179.8°, a difference of 1.4°.

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 Siverek

• Viranşehir179.8° · 71 km
• Sanliurfa176.5° · 80 km
• Diyarbakır181.3° · 81 km
• Adıyaman174.9° · 91 km
• Elâzığ178.1° · 103 km
• Malatya175.2° · 110 km