Qibla direction in Kramatorsk

How to face the Qibla in Kramatorsk

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 4.6° towards east: the result is the bearing of 175.4°. 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 Kramatorsk, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its 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 Kramatorsk to Mecca points to 176.2°, only 0.8° away from the true Qibla. Here the two methods practically agree, so a map gives a usable first idea, although the 175.4° bearing remains the exact one.

How is the figure of 175.4° obtained? From the coordinates of Kramatorsk (48.7311° N, 37.5678° 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 Kramatorsk to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,043 km from Kramatorsk as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,704 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 05 min, although most pilgrims from Kramatorsk connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Kramatorsk run 1 hour behind Mecca in winter and the same time as Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Kramatorsk rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Kramatorsk

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Kramatorsk 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 11:14 local time.

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

Kramatorsk compared with other cities

Compared with Kyiv, 542 km away, the Qibla in Kramatorsk is turned 13.0° further clockwise (175.4° against 162.5°), and Mecca is 286 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Horlivka (58 km), prays towards 176.3°, a difference of 0.9°.

Across the 40 cities in Ukraine on this site, the Qibla ranges from 146.6° in Uzhhorod to 178.9° in Luhansk, a spread of 32.4°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.

See all cities on the Qibla page for Ukraine.

Qibla in cities near Kramatorsk

• Horlivka176.3° · 58 km
• Donetsk175.8° · 81 km
• Alchevs'k177.9° · 95 km
• Pavlohrad171.9° · 127 km
• Luhansk178.9° · 129 km
• Kharkiv173.1° · 168 km