Qibla direction in Khmelnytskyi

How to face the Qibla in Khmelnytskyi

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 24.6° towards east: the result is the bearing of 155.4°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 25° off.

The scholars distinguish two cases: the one who sees the Kaaba aims at the building itself, while the one who cannot see it, as anywhere in Khmelnytskyi, aims at its direction as well as he reasonably can. Comparing with the mihrab of a local mosque is a quick way to confirm the result. If you travel or move house, check the angle again, since it changes from place to place.

Why a flat map shows a different direction

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Khmelnytskyi to Mecca points to 159.9° (south), 4.5° away from the correct 155.4°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 2 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

The value of 155.4° is the direction in which the shortest route from 49.4184° N, 26.9794° E sets off towards the Kaaba at 21.4225° N, 39.8262° E. Every accurate Qibla calculator, and the plans of well-oriented mosques, arrive at the same angle for this point.

Distance from Khmelnytskyi to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 3,313 km from Khmelnytskyi as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,984 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 4 h 24 min, although most pilgrims from Khmelnytskyi connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Khmelnytskyi 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 Khmelnytskyi rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Khmelnytskyi

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Khmelnytskyi 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 10:31 local time.

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

Khmelnytskyi compared with other cities

Compared with Kyiv, 279 km away, the Qibla in Khmelnytskyi is turned 7.1° further anticlockwise (155.4° against 162.5°), and Mecca is 16 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Ternopil (101 km), prays towards 153.0°, a difference of 2.4°.

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 Khmelnytskyi

• Ternopil153.0° · 101 km
• Vinnytsia158.0° · 110 km
• Rivne154.9° · 144 km
• Chernivtsi152.6° · 147 km
• Zhytomyr159.0° · 154 km
• Ivano-Frankivsk151.0° · 174 km