Where is the Mecca – Map of Mecca online and ubication

How to find the Mecca?

Either out of curiosity or because you want to visit Saudi Arabia and know the exact spot of Mecca, in this article we will talk about where is the Mecca.

The Mecca or Kaaba mosque is the city where prophet Muhammad was born in the 570 approximately. Muhammad lived in this city until the year 622 approximately, when he had to escape due to a religious prosecution, refugiating in Medina, where he died at the age or 63.

You can know about the city of Mecca

It is due to History that the Mecca is considered one of the most important holy cities of Islam. The full name of this holy city in Arab is Makka-al-Mukarrama, which translated to English means ‘the ennobled Mecca’.

The Mecca is the capital of the western province situated in Saudi Arabia, called Makoraba by Ptolomeo in the II Century. However, it is also known as the main city of Hijaz region, situated in the west of the Arabian Peninsula, in Saudi Arabia.

Here we can see the map of Mecca in google maps

Yeda is situated at about 64 kilometers from where Mecca is and is situated in a narrow valley 277 meters on sea level. We can also say that the Red Sea is at about 80 kilometers from where the Mecca is.

We can also answer the question of where is the Mecca, saying that is in the sand valley, close to Wadi Ibrahim. Besides, we can also say that this city is surrounded by hills, which range from 60 to 150 meters high. Mecca is also near Jabal Khandama, a hill of more than 913 meters tall.

Meca has 24 doors and the city is displayed around the mosque. In the north of this city, approximately 470 kilometers, is the second most important city of Islam, Medina, where Muhammad rests in his tomb.

In the XIII century, Mecca was conquered by Egyptians and in the XVI century was conquered by the Turks, who despite having mastery of this city, left the sherifs Hashemites and Ali, Muhammad’s son in law, administrating it.

After the Turks domain, Mecca was governed by Muhammad descendants, who are called sherifs, until in 1924 Abd al’Aziz ibn Saud, sultan of Nadj, proclaimed where the Mecca is, as a religious capital of Saudi Arabia.

It is due to its location, exactly in the east, where the sun rises, that all Islam followers who have a mosque pray towards the east, in Mecca direction. For muslims, Meca, along with faith profession, pray, alm and fast, is one of the pillars of Islam. Every year, thirteen million of muslims go where the Mecca is  to make either the minor and the major pilgrimage.

As it was said before, all muslims have to pray five times a day in the direction of Mecca, where the black stone is. This daily ritual has to be done no matter where the muslim is, that is to say either in Saudi Arabia or in a foreign country. When muslims pray towards where the Mecca is and  the pray receives the name of alquibla.

Alquibla is represented by one of the mosque walls, which also has to be oriented towards the Mecca, that is to say to the east. The alquibla is easily recognizable because it is where mihrab niche can be opened.

On the other hand, it can be said that there are many Saudi Arabian airlines that offer tickets to go where the Mecca is. However, it is important to bear in mind that since long ago, no turist is allowed in Mecca, whether it is a pilgrimage day or not. As a matter of fact, turistic visas are not issued by Saudia Arabia since it is quite a conservative country regarding turistic visits.

Another issue to take into account when visiting the Mecca or any other Saudi Arabian city is that, no matter if you are a man or a woman, you have to wear the proper clothes.

With the question about where the Mecca is, it produces us an indescribable emotion and nostalgia among muslims. For every year, millions of muslims pilgrimage to the Mecca, which is the place where prophet Muhammad was born.

No other city in the world has the mysticism and magic of the Mecca has or that is as venerated as the Mecca is. The Mecca attracts every year more than 3 million pilgrims between Suez Road and Anden of Arabian Peninsula. Every year, there are more pilgrims, who are muslim devotees that bow towards this mystical city as a compass attracted by a magnet.

Where is the Mecca and what is the Mecca?

The Mecca is a glittering domes and minaretes as thin as knives center. It is also an industrial and trade center since Islam carries out many, if not all, of the activities of the muslim’s life, from Art or Science to food or ablutions.

This is the city where prophet Muhammad was born in the year 570 and ripped the city from the tiniebles of paganism and teaching the only way of his God, Allah. This is why only Muhammad followers have access to the Mecca enclosure, also the ones he has in ritual state of purity that can put their feet inside the Great Mosque and get closed to the sacred black stone of Kaaba and to the Zamzam well in order to carry out the corresponding rituals. Pilgrims who enter the Mecca wear simple and ornament free clothes since inside Al Haram mosque all muslims are equal.

It is located in a desert basin between the coastal plan and the plateau in the current Saudi Arabia. Situated in the peninsula at 277 meters above sea level and 80 km from the Red Sea. It is considered as the holiest city of Islam and all pilgrims gather to pray where prophet Muhammad was born, founder of their religion, the Islam. In the north of this city, it is Medina, approximately 470 km from it and it is the second holy city of Islam, where Muhammad’s tomb is.

 

The name of the muslim ‘s pilgrimage is ‘Hayy’, which is a meeting of Islam followers who go to the Mecca Mosque, which is the holiest religious temple for muslims.

Kaaba pilgrimage, which is Islam’s main sactuary is located in the huge indoors backyard of the Mecca. The Kaaba (‘cube’ in English) is a rectangular building with a capacity for 35 thousand people and it is around 12 meters long, 10 meters wide and 15 meters tall. Inside Kaaba it is the sacred black stone, which is completely wrapped by kiswah, a black silk mantle that weighs around 450 kilos and it has Coran verses embroidered in gold thread. According to the legend, Abraham received this stone as a present from archangel Gabriel when he build the Kaaba. However, scientists and investigators think is a meteorite, but everything are just assumptions.

During the pilgrimage days, pilgrims have to refrain from committing wicked acts or arguing, having sexual intercourses, according to what it is written in the Coran, which says that those who fulfills these commandments “will have been born again”. In order to finish with the pilgrimage, muslims end up in the Stonning of Satan, simbolize by stelae and then they go to the Great Maca mosque, which is the last stage of the annual  pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. After having finished the stonning rite, pilgrims have to go the Great Mosqque for the ‘Farewell Tour’, that is given around Kaaba, before sunset. The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam that, according to the Coran, all muslims have to do it at least once in their lives if they have the economic means.

On the other hand, the Hajj is a remarkable feat of organization since the enormous amount of people who go implies transport problems, order and health maintainance. That is why, to accommodate visitors, a huge tent city rises.

It is said that the Kaaba was built by the first prophet, Adan. However, as time went by, it fell into oblivion and started to crumble until the prophet Abraham, along with his son Ismael  and thanks to Divine inspiration, made it grow again. It has been a muslim sanctuary since the year 632 as well as the scenery of several war conflicts among the different muslim factions. In the year 931, the sacred black stone was stolen and taken to Bahrein by members of an islamic sect, to be returned 20 years later, after several diplomatic negociations, recovering then its place in the Mecca.

Inside Kaaba, some gold and silver lamps hang, but its important element is the black stone, which has to be kissed and surrounded seven times by muslims arriving to the Mecca. The origin of this object gets lost between the  legend and the holy aura given to it by Mahoma, along with geologists theory, who attribute it  to a meteorite origin, which fell from the sky in the Eden Garden. However, according to traditions, this stone were given to Adan for it to absorb his sins after having been expelled from Paradise.

The legend also says that at the beginning the stone was white, but due to the accumulation of human sins, it began to acquire a dark color tonality. Another traditions that has been spreading among muslims, is that it was given to Abraham by angel Gabriel with the purpose of building his temple on the cornerstone.

Visit the Mecca, Most Emblematic and Religious Places

All things to visit in the Mecca are related to Muslim culture and religion. It is considered the hometown of Muhammad and is the most important of all the holy cities of Islam. Here you can see the most emblematic places and their locations:

Where is the Kaaba?

The Kaaba is the most famous sanctuary of Islam, called “the temple” or “the house of God” (Bayt Allah). It is located almost in the center of the courtyard of the great mosque of the Mecca. The Kaaba is where Muslims from all over the world are oriented during their ritual prayers. It is where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are heading each year for the large or the small pilgrimage.

It is a cube-shaped construction that represents the most important sacred and religious pilgrimage place in Islam. It is the “house of God” and in one of its corners contains a relic, a Black Stone of meteoric origin.

Where is the Masjid al-Haram Mosque?

Known by the name of Al Masjid al Haram, it is the most sacred mosque in Islamism and is located in the city of the Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. This temple is possibly one of the most beautiful in the world and has an impeccable construction. In its center is the Kaaba, in which there is embedded a black stone that Muslims try to touch in the course of circumambulations during the pilgrimage (hajj). It is considered the largest mosque in the world.

Where is the Well of Zamzam?

The Well of Zamzam has a great history for Muslims. It is a well considered sacred located in Mecca a few meters east of the Kaaba. It is 35 meters deep and is covered by a dome. Tradition tells that this well was opened by Angel Gabriel, to save Hagar and her son Ishmael from dying. Zamzam water is believed to have special properties, which soothes hunger and cures diseases. It is tradition that pilgrims return from their pilgrimage with a bottle of Zamzam water.

Where is Mina?

Mina is a desert place located about 5 kilometers east of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. It is located on the road between the center of Mecca and Mount Arafat. Mina is a small town, in which the devil is represented by a 26-meter wall that pilgrims symbolically stone.

Where is Mountain Arafat?

Mountain Arafat is where after Mina, the pilgrims go, it is a place destined for prayer. It is a granite hill located east of the Mecca, about 70 meters high, also known as the Mountain of Mercy, where Muhammad issued the farewell sermon to the Muslims who had accompanied him by the Hajj towards the end of his lifetime.

Where is the Road del Rey Fahd?

King’s Fahd Causeway is a bridge and combined viaduct, which connects the town of Khobar (Al Khubar), located in Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain. Its construction began on November 1982, with the laying of the first stone by King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and Emir Isa ibn Salman to the Khalifa of Bahrain, and was completed in 1986, with the construction of bridges and dams.

 

Where is the cave of Hira?

The cave of Hira is located on top of Yabal an-Nur east of the Mecca. It is about four kilometers from the mosque (al-Haram) and its peak reaches a height of 634 meters. There are 600 steps to reach this cave that is 270 meters high and has a radius of 263.23 meters. During the Hajj around 5,000 Muslims go up to the cave of Hira daily to see the place where according to their beliefs Muhammad received the first revelation of the Koran on the Night of Power.

Where is the Abraj Al Bait Towers?

Abraj Al Bait Towers, also known as Makkah Royal Clock Tower, is a mixed-use residential and hotel complex located near Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. They began to be built in 2004 and finished in 2012. This building is based on seven towers erected above podiums of which, the tallest, has the Makkah Royal Clock reaching a height of 601 meters, becoming one of the Ten tallest skyscrapers in the world.

If you still wonder where the Mecca is, now you have the place where to find it and the photographs will take you to a place that you have not visited yet. Remember you can see more information about Abraj Al Bait Towers here.