Qibla direction in Sevastopol

How to face the Qibla in Sevastopol

Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards south and move a further 14.7° towards east: the result is the bearing of 165.3°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at south would leave you about 15° 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 Sevastopol, 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

A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Sevastopol to Mecca points to 167.3° (south), 2.0° away from the correct 165.3°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is not the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.

How is the figure of 165.3° obtained? From the coordinates of Sevastopol (44.6080° N, 33.5213° 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 Sevastopol to Mecca and Medina

Mecca is 2,642 km from Sevastopol as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 2,306 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 3 h 37 min, although most pilgrims from Sevastopol connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.

Clocks in Sevastopol 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 Sevastopol rather than those of Mecca.

Finding the Qibla with the sun in Sevastopol

On 365 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Sevastopol 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 11:50 local time.

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

Sevastopol compared with other cities

Compared with Kyiv, 688 km away, the Qibla in Sevastopol is turned 2.9° further clockwise (165.3° against 162.5°), and Mecca is 687 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Simferopol (61 km), prays towards 166.8°, a difference of 1.5°.

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 Sevastopol

• Simferopol166.8° · 61 km
• Yevpatoriya165.3° · 67 km
• Kerch172.3° · 247 km
• Melitopol170.4° · 288 km
• Mykolayiv163.4° · 289 km
• Odesa160.5° · 301 km