The majority of us live in grey towns, packed with office buildings and skyscrapers. Maybe this is the reason why so many people are sad and dull. Have you ever thought about the impact the sun and the colours can have on your state of mind?
However, things can be changed for the better. At least, this is what Calcutta’s chief minister is trying to do – he has ordered the city of 14 million residents to be painted sky blue, taking inspiration from the new Indian government’s motto, “the sky is the limit”, according to BBC.
Therefore, these mandatory chances will affect Government buildings, flyovers, roadside railings, and even taxis. What do you think?
Nevertheless, Calcutta is not the only city with such an inspiring vision. Let’s have a look at other colourful cities around the planet.
La Boca – Buenos Aires
This town is a neighbourhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It was settled and built by Italian immigrants who worked in the warehouses and meatpacking plants in the area.
Brightly painted houses in Caminito
It’s very popular among tourists thanks to its colourful houses and pedestrian street, the Caminito, where tango artists perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold.
La Boca is also known among sports fans for La Bombonera, the home of Boca Juniors, one of the world’s best known football clubs.
The Caminito of tango lore, an example of the colour of La Boca attributable to local artist Benito Quinquela Martín
It is a beautiful and joyful city – the oldest, most colorful, and most authentic neighbourhood in Buenos Aires, and other attractions include the La Ribera theatre, many tango clubs and Italian taverns.
Juzcar – Andalucia
Talking about blue cities! Juzcar is an ancient town dating back to before the Moors invaded Spain in 711AD.
Nonetheless, in order to celebrate the launch of the new Smurf movie – The Smurfs 2011, giant electronic firm Sony contaced the town’s officials and asked permission to paint the town blue.
Juzcar, the blue painted Spanish village
Until this, Juzcar was a traditional white village and the plan was that by September 2011, the painters would return and re-paint the village white again, but thousands of tourists have been flocking to Juzcar, so that the people of the village are considering to keep it blue.
The church in Juzcar before it was painted blue
Santa Catalina Church in Juzcar also painted blue
We need to mention that the painting results are stunning, don’t you think so?
Cinque Terre – Italy
You will definitely meet the beauty, once you’ll visit one of these five small towns castled up on stone spurs in minuscule creeks. The vineyards, typical of this area, have contributed to create a unique landscape with dry-laid stone walls, winding paths, enchanting beaches between cliffs and clear waters.
The Cinque Terre are National Park and UNESCO protected territory since 1997
The Cinque Terre has not suffered a massive expansion and here you can enjoy the breathtaking views, the churches oratories and old castles, diving, food and wines of first quality.
You can read more about this protected territory here.
Bo-Kaap – Cape Town
This city, called also “Cape Malay Quarter”, has a very interesting historical background. For example, many of the inhabitants are descendants of the people from Indonesia (Batavia), Sri Lanka, India and Malaysia, who were captured in the 17th and 18th century and enslaved by the Dutch-East Indian Trading Company. Many were Mulims and others were converted to Islam by the Cape Muslim community.
The Cape Malays have preserved their cultural identity and Muslemic creed.
Moreover, the people from Bo-Kaap have preserved their cultural identity and Islamic creed. The old Malay Quarter with its steep and narrow streets, the plain artisan houses, Mosques and Minaretts reaches from the Buitengracht Street up to the Signal Hill.
The great city of Bo-Kaap
In this amazing town, the houses were restored and colourfully painted.
If you want to know more about the history of this place and also about the “Coon Carnival”, please click here.
