The most colorful cities around the world – There’s more to a
city than just concrete, steel and hard work. The color of a city’s
architecture and the creativity of its people can turn a dull,
functional town into a thing of vibrant beauty. From the favelas of Rio
de Janeiro to the Blue City of India and beyond, color is a core
characteristic of some of the world’s most stunning cities. Join us to
explore 10 of the most bright and colorful cities around the world
today.
Cinque Terre – Italy
The pearl of Italy’s riviera is not a city, per se, but a collection
of five seaside villages that are together celebrated as an UNESCO World
Heritage site.
Cinque Terre, Italy
comprises the villages of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia,
Manarola, and Riomaggiore, all of which are perched high above the quiet
Mediterranean below. These villages climb the mountainous overlook
with bright, varied colors, appearing as if they were drawn in place by
the pastel hand of a dreaming artist. Each quiet fishing village warmly
accepts travelers, some of which are often amongst the world’s A-list
celebrities. With a glance at the gallery below, it’s easy to
understand why the world’s most famous would want to escape to a slice
of heaven like this. [image credits:
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Jodhpur – India
Generations ago, the priestly caste of
Jodhpur, India
painted their homes blue to separate themselves from the rest of the
citizenry. It wasn’t long until the rest of the old city, Brahmins or
not, took up the tradition and painted their homes blue as well. While
the city has expanded far beyond its old walls today, its central core
is almost entirely indigo in color. Ask a few locals about the color
choice today, and you’ll receive many answers. Some may point to the
priestly caste years ago, others suggest it wards off mosquitoes, and
others claim the blue keeps their homes cool under the hot Indian sun.
No matter the cause, the effect is breathtaking. Visitors to Jodhpur
can experience one of the most colorful cities on the planet, where
every brick, beam and boundary has been painted in this cool, calming
fashion. [image credits:
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St. Johns – Newfoundland – Canada
The city of
St. Johns
on the island of Newfoundland is arguably Canada’s most colorful city, a
characteristic in contrast to its otherwise chilly climate. The
cultural gem of its province, St. Johns features many museums, art
galleries and urban parks throughout its hilly coastal environs. In the
hip sections of the city, low-rise buildings have been painted in a
vibrant array of colors, a visual quality that is noticeable even from
the ships that pass by. When it comes to color, there’s nothing dull
about this hamlet on the easternmost point of North America. [image
credits:
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Old San Juan – Puerto Rico
If color was a drug, the addicts would have fled to Old San Juan long
ago.
Old San Juan, Puerto Rico is a marvelous mosaic of color in all
directions, a city with a rich cultural heritage shared by the native
Taino people and the descendents of European explorers. The buildings
in Old San Juan are different from one step to the next, some warm and
primary, others bright and pastel. Even the streets of this UNESCO
World Heritage site are colorful– the blue bricks that pave Old San Juan
were shipped over from Spain one-by-one during the 16th century. Its
people are as bright, varied and beautiful as the colors that line its
streets, and their hospitality must be experienced by every world
traveler. We visited Old San Juan in late 2011, be sure to check out
our review of San Juan’s premier boutique hotel, The Gallery Inn. [images 1-5 © thecoolist, #6 courtesy
Emilio Santocoloma]
San Francisco – California
Despite its standing as the most culturally-progressive city in the
United States, there’s another rainbow of colors shining brightly in
San Francisco.
This densely-packed peninsula city is home to a colorful architectural
identity, one reflected in the varied paint styling that changes from
door to door. The Painted Ladies, a row of homes in San Francisco’s
Lower Haight district, are one of the most recognizable works of color
in the city, but bright colors can be found anywhere throughout the
town. The gallery below shares a few perfect examples. [image credits:
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Valparaiso – Chile
Valparaiso, Chile
has been called the “Ocean’s Sweetheart”, “The Jewel of the Pacific”
and the city that “goes to paradise”– and it is also the cultural
capitol of this geographically narrow nation. It is covered with color
from city limit to city limit, a characteristic which has charmed
Chileans and foreigners for generations. The city of Valparaiso climbs
from the shore of the pacific into the mountains above, covering the
hills with a sight as rich as the personalities within. Its culture,
its color and its progressive spirit have earned it another nickname
which fits this list quite well– the San Francisco of the South. [image
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Bo Kaap – Cape Town – South Africa
A small corner of Cape Town, South Africa is home to the Cape Malay
ethnic group and a visually vibrant architectural sensibility. A group
of Southeast Asian and Muslim immigrants came together in the quarter of
Bo Kaap,
a hilly neighborhood of Cape Town. The buildings of Bo Kaap are
separated by bright and friendly colors which change from address to
address. Pinks, oranges, yellows and blues mix together to create a
community of eye candy, one that easily earns its place in a list of the
top 10 most colorful cities around the world. [image credits:
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Guanajuato – Mexico
The silver city of
Guanajuato
is the most colorful in all of Mexico, one celebrated for its cultural
and mineral importance during the colonial period and beyond. For 250
years, the Guanajuato silver mines were the most productive in the
world, providing 30% of the world’s silver. A city shot up around these
mines as they were being explored, and the colonial-era architecture is
evidence of this building boom. Yet the spirit of Guanajuato is
reflected in the color of those buildings, varied across the full
spectrum from one end of town to the other. Like others on this list,
the colorful city of Guanajuato is also now celebrated as an UNESCO
World Heritage Site. [image credits:
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Wroclaw – Poland
Despite its tumultuous past, the city of
Wroclaw, Poland
has long embraced color as a part of its cultural identity. As Europe
warred around it, Wroclaw has been a city of Germany, Prussia, Austria
and finally Poland, where it is now the 4th largest city of its newest
country. The buildings of its city center are rich in color,
progressing from earth tones to pastels in a very old-world manner.
This colorful take on classical architecture makes it one of the most
colorful cities in Europe, and a departure from the rest of the entries
on this list. While Wroclaw is varied in color, it has a most
subtle-yet-effective way of communicating it to its visitors. Where
some cities are over the top, something about Wroclaw strikes you as
“just right”. [image credits:
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Favela Painting – Rio de Janeiro – Brazil
The favelas (or shanty towns) of Rio de Janeiro can be difficult and
dangerous for those who call them home. Over 11 million Brazilians live
in favelas like those in Rio, where sanitation, running water and even
police access are not guaranteed. If you can view them from afar, there
is a strange beauty to their nature, one recognized by Dutch artists
Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn. Koolhaas and Urhahn visited favelas in
Rio to work with the locals to create brilliant works of colorful art on
the walls of the homes they live in. Simply called
Favela Painting,
the duo’s manner of charitable art makes the locals the artists and
their city the canvas, instilling pride in a place that few would find
desirable. This work by the people of Rio might be the most colorful
neighborhood in the world, clearly the gem of our list of ten.
[Source]
