Mecca Webcam – The Kaaba and the Grand Mosque Courtyard

The Mecca Webcam looks down from high above the courtyard of Masjid al-Haram, the Grand Mosque, onto the Kaaba and the pilgrims walking around it. The black, cube-shaped Kaaba sits near the middle of the picture in its silk cover, with a band of gold calligraphy running around it. Thousands of people, most of them dressed in white, fill the open floor of the Mataf on every side. Behind them a low arcade of arches carries rows of small white domes, and the mosque’s tall white galleries curve around the far side of the courtyard. The pictures come from Saudi Arabia’s Quran TV, which broadcasts from the mosque around the clock. It is a television feed rather than one fixed camera, so the angle changes from time to time, and Arabic captions name the reciter and the sura being read over the pictures.

About Mecca and the Kaaba

Mecca is the holiest city in Islam and the birthplace of the Prophet Muhammad, who was born here in 570. It sits 277 meters (909 feet) above sea level, 70 kilometers (43 miles) inland from Jeddah and the Red Sea, and the 2022 census counted 2,385,509 people. Only Muslims may enter the city. The Grand Mosque at its center covers about 356,000 square meters (88 acres) and is built around the Kaaba, the qibla that Muslims everywhere face in prayer. It took that role in 624, when the direction of prayer changed from Jerusalem to Mecca.

The Kaaba’s cover, the Kiswa, is black silk embroidered with gold, and it is replaced every year. The gold band two-thirds of the way up is the hizam, lettered with verses from the Quran. The Black Stone is set in the eastern corner, which is where each circuit of the Kaaba begins. Facing the northwest wall stands the Hijr Ismail, a semicircular wall of white marble 1.31 meters (4.3 feet) high. The ground between it and the Kaaba was once part of the building, so pilgrims walk around the outside of the wall. In the wide shot it shows as a pale curve at one corner of the Kaaba’s base.

The camera stays on the mosque. The Makkah Royal Clock Tower, 601 meters (1,972 feet) tall, stands about 300 meters (980 feet) south of the mosque across the plaza from the King Abdul-Aziz Gate, but it is not in the wide shot, and neither are the streets and hills of the city. What the broadcast follows is the tawaf, the seven counterclockwise circuits of the Kaaba.

Weather and Climate in Mecca

Mecca has a hot desert climate and is warm all year. Winter is the mild season: in January the average high is 31°C (88°F) and the low 19°C (67°F), and December and February are much the same. It is also when most of the city’s 105 millimeters (4.1 inches) of annual rain falls, mainly between November and January, sometimes in heavy thunderstorms. Spring warms quickly, from an average high of 35°C (96°F) in March to 42°C (108°F) in May.

Summer is long and very hot. June averages 44°C (111°F) in the afternoon, and August has the warmest nights, with an average low of 30°C (86°F), though the humidity stays fairly low at around 30 to 40 percent. The heat holds through September, with an average high of 43°C (109°F), then eases to 40°C (105°F) in October and 36°C (96°F) in November. The Quran TV picture shows the current temperature in its bottom left corner.

Things to Do Near Mecca’s Grand Mosque

Mecca is open to Muslims only, so the places below are for Muslim visitors. Just outside the city, Jabal al-Nour holds the Cave of Hira, where Muslims believe the first verses of the Quran were revealed to Muhammad. At the foot of the mountain the Hira Cultural District opened in January 2023, and its Revelation Exhibition tells that story with a life-size model of the cave and a large screen. The Hajj sites of Mina, Muzdalifah and Mount Arafat lie a few kilometers outside the city’s central holy sites.

Back near the mosque, the Makkah Royal Clock Tower, whose clock faces each measure 43 meters (141 feet) across, has the Clock Tower Museum on its top four floors. In the Umm al-Joud district, next to the King Abdulaziz Complex where the Kiswa is made, the Exhibition of the Two Holy Mosques Architecture fills seven halls covering the Grand Mosque, the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina, the Kaaba and the Zamzam well. Its pieces include an old wooden pillar from the Kaaba and historic Kiswa models.

Similar Webcams You Might Like

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• Medina Webcam
• Western Wall Webcam
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Frequently Asked Questions

Where is the Kaaba located?

The Kaaba stands in the center of Masjid al-Haram, the Grand Mosque, in Mecca in western Saudi Arabia. The city is 70 kilometers (43 miles) inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, at 277 meters (909 feet) above sea level.

What can you see on the Mecca Webcam?

The wide shot looks down on the Kaaba in its black and gold Kiswa, with the Mataf around it packed with pilgrims walking their circuits. The low domed arcade and the mosque’s multistory galleries fill the background. At times the broadcast cuts to closer angles, such as a shot over the Hijr Ismail beside the Kaaba. The Clock Tower and the city streets are not in the wide shot.

Which channel broadcasts the Makkah live stream?

Quran TV, an official channel of the Saudi Broadcasting Authority, a Saudi government body. Its YouTube channel streams from the Grand Mosque around the clock, with Quran recitation and Arabic captions.

Is the Mecca Webcam live 24 hours a day?

Yes. Quran TV describes its stream as running around the clock from the Grand Mosque. The courtyard is floodlit after dark, so the picture stays bright at night, and the Mataf can still be crowded close to 11 p.m. local time. When the channel starts a new broadcast, this page switches to it by itself, usually within half an hour.

What is the weather like in Mecca?

Hot for most of the year. Average highs run from 31°C (88°F) in January to 44°C (111°F) in June, and even winter nights stay around 19°C (67°F). The little rain there is, about 105 millimeters (4.1 inches) a year, falls mostly from November to January. For the conditions right now, check the temperature readout in the bottom left of the picture.

Why do pilgrims walk around the Kaaba?

The circling is the tawaf, one of the pilgrimage rites. Pilgrims go around the Kaaba seven times counterclockwise, starting from the Black Stone in the eastern corner, with the first three circuits at a quicker pace on the outer part of the Mataf and the last four closer in.

Can non-Muslims visit Mecca?

No. Non-Muslims are prohibited from entering the city. Jeddah, 70 kilometers (43 miles) away on the Red Sea, is the nearest city open to all visitors.

Source: Quran TV (Saudi Broadcasting Authority)