If you all remember the saying “Rome was not built in a day” which means its not easy to make the cities beautiful overnight. There is more to these cities than brick walls and streets. Its the colors and architecture that makes is beautiful. Check out these most colorful cities of the world:
1. Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India – Blue City
Photo By Jon Connell on Flickr Looking down on Jodhpur License (CC BY 2.0)
Rajasthan, the dessert state shares a part of border with Pakistan is located on the western part of India is the land of kings and palaces and forts. Its well known for its cultural heritage and is one of the most visited state by international tourists coming to India. Jodhpur the second largest city in Rajasthan is located in the center and is know as the “Blue City” mainly because of the bright blue-painted house in the most part of the city. Some say that this tradition emerged as the part of caste system back in those days. So according to that, Brahmins – the members of priest caste who are considered at the top of the caste system, had to paint their houses blue to distinguish themselves from others. Over the years, other non-Brahmin families around the area of Mehrangarh Fort also painted their house with a bright blue color, giving the entire city a feel as the sky has fallen down himself to paint the city blue.
2. St. Johns – Newfoundland – Canada
Photo By Kenny Louie on Flickr Jelly Bean Row License (CC BY 2.0)
St John’s is the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador province in Canada. Its downtown is know for beautifully colored houses. It is a very scenic place and is perfect balance of nature and night life. Even though it gives a feel of small-town it is the largest city in Newfoundland. The streets are filled with small shops, boutiques, cafes and restaurants. It is located on the Atlantic coast of Canada, at the beginning of the Trans-Canada Highway Route 1, and is just 3 hours from Toronto and 4 from New York.
3. Cinque Terre – Italy
Image By Daniel Stockman on Flickr Cinque Terre 2012 16 License (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Cinque Terre is a six mile stretch of centuries old villages rowed together on the Rivera coastline in Italy. In this stretch are 5 small villages which are amazingly scenic and beautifully colorful. The 5 towns that form this place known as “The Five Lands” are : Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.
4. Guanajuato – Mexico
Image By Bud Ellison on Flickr Cinque Terre 2012 16 License (CC BY 2.0)
Guanajuato is the capital of the state with the same name, The State of Guanajuato. The town was founded by the Spanish in 16th century and by 18th century it became the world’s leading silver extraction center. This city in the mountains of central Mexico, has the houses unimaginably beautiful colored that slope down the hill. The colors of the house range from fuchsia, pink, saffron yellow, indigo, baby blue, aqua and lime green just to name a few. It is internationally knows for its art festival, the Festival Cervantino.
5. Favela Painting – Rio de Janeiro – Brazil
Image by André Sampaio on Wikimedia Praça Cantão, 2011 License CC BY-SA 3.0
Two Dutch artists Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn (known as Haas&Hahn) are helping transform the slum area in Rio De Janerio into something beautiful and colorful with the hint of the paint, along with the locals there. Favela painting is the name given to this series of artwork community. The name of the paintings under this project are: “Boy with Kite” 150 square meter painting started in 2007 and completed in 3 months, “Rio Cruzeiro” 2000 square meter painting started in 2007 and “Praça Cantão” a 7000 square meter painting, started in 2010 that included painting 34 houses in the slum, the streets and interiors of those houses. They recruited 25 youths for this project.
6. Valparaiso – Chile
Image By CucombreLibre on Flickr Valparaiso-B-010 License (CC BY 2.0)
Located on central Chile’s Pacific coast, Valparaiso is a major city, seaport, and educational center in the county! Its know for its bohemian and artistic vibe and colorful clifftop houses. The city is vulnerable to earthquakes, because of its close proximity to Peru-Chile Trench.
7. Reykjavik, Iceland
Image By Phillipa on Flickr Reykjavik License (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Reykjavik, Iceland’s coastal capital, may have gray skies most of the year but the house are so beautiful that they fill your eyes with colors. Buildings across the city’s skyline are painted in teal, brick red, mustard and white. This city is renowned for its night life – late-night clubs and bars in its compact center.
8. La Boca in Buenos Aires, Argentina
Image By Marissa Strniste Flickr La Boca License (CC BY 2.0)
La Boca is a working class neighborhood in the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. There are walking tours of the neighborhood so explore the vibrant colors of the streets. Tourists are advised not to go out side the main street area as it has a reputation of being prone to more crime than central areas.
9. Burano – Island of Venice, Italy
Image By CHEN KIRIN on Flickr Burano License (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Burano a small island of Venice in northern Italy, is famous for its colorfully laced houses. Even though it is located on the same lagoon as Venice, Burano give a more tropical vibe because of the vibrant color choice of the houses. If you own a house there and want to paint your house, you can’t do that until you get an approval from the government for your choice of the color. Government will respond by making notice of the certain colors that are permitted for that particular lot.
10. Wroclaw – Poland
Image By Brandon Atkinson on Flickr City Of Color License (CC BY 2.0)
Wroclaw is the fourth-largest city Poland and is the major political, industrial, commercial and educational center for the region. In the heart of the city is the place called Market Square, one of the most beautiful and largest urban squares in Poland. Travelling can be a challenge in this town as very few people speak English even though it has a population of 630,000!
11. Bo Kaap – Cape Town – South Africa
Image By warrenski on Flickr colorful License (CC BY-SA 2.0)
