Here’s why you should visit Cordoba during Ramadan, a place like no other in Spain

In the buzzing heart of Córdoba, it’s easy to see why the caliphs of Al-Andalus chose the city as the capital of their Western European empire in AD 711. The labyrinthine streets – where buildings stand almost like souks and the aroma of shisha smoke drifts from cosy bars – are more reminiscent of the sun-baked medinas of the Middle East than the boulevards of Madrid or Valencia.

These winding pathways whisper tales of Islamic influence that go back more than a millennium, despite many believing that Muslim integration in the West is a relatively recent concept. It is a confronting topic of discussion, one often driven by world events rather than by the real lives of Muslims in Western society.

Islam in Europe isn’t recent at all. In fact, its influence in Córdoba predates many modern European countries as we know them today. Islam observances like Ramadan – the 30-day period of fasting that Muslims across the world observe each year – deserve their place in Europe’s historical canon.

For a month, European Muslims wake before sunrise for suhoor (the pre-dawn meal), fast during daylight hours, then break their fast at iftar (the sunset meal). They come together for spiritual reflection and community activities in mosques across Europe as they do elsewhere in the world. But only Córdoba can reasonably claim to be the birthplace of Ramadan in Europe, the city being the first place it was observed in an organised way.

Just a century after the founding of Islam, an army of Arabs and Berbers left Damascus, traversed North Africa, and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar. Their vision was to create a new caliphate that rivalled the centres of Islamic power across Egypt and the Levant.

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They chose Córdoba as their capital and over the next 780 years the Islamic nation of Al-Andalus slowly took shape. At its peak, Córdoba was a capital city of more than 300,000 inhabitants and the centre of a caliphate that spanned much of the Iberian Peninsula.

The city is bordered to the north by Spain’s Sierra Morena mountain range, which bisects this part of Andalusia. Modern Córdoba’s buildings – which, by law, must be less than seven stories tall to avoid diminishing its prominent cathedral spires – now stretch along the banks of the Guadalquivir River.