10 of the most colourful places to live
- Published
...and here it is! The local government has spent more than £17,000 on the area called Semarang's make-over. It is hoped that the pretty buildings will mean more tourists come to visit the area and spend their money in the village, which will help people who live there.
Just as people living in Semarang hope will happen, this small Spanish village called Juzcar saw tourists flood to the area after it got a lick of paint. The buildings were all given a bright blue make-over as a publicity stunt for a new Smurfs movie. The village beat 200 others to become Pueblo Pitufo, which means 'Smurf town' in Spanish. The film company said they would paint the buildings white again afterwards, but the town voted to leave them as they were.
This is actually an island, which is about 45 minutes by boat from Venice. Burano in Italy is known for its brightly coloured houses. The story goes that fishermen used to paint their houses like this so they could spot them from their boats.
Sintra is an old town in Portugal, which is not too far from the country's capital Lisbon. Tourists come to visit the amazing buildings, such as this beautiful one called the Pena Palace. No one has lived in this palace since 1910, when the country's nobility fled because of a revolution, but it would be a pretty great place to live, don't you think?
You don't have to travel too far to find colourful towns and villages though. Portmeirion in Wales is also known for its eye-catching buildings. It was created by an architect called Clough Williams-Ellis from 1925 to 1976, who wanted to show that it was possible to create a naturally beautiful site without spoiling the area. He didn't do a bad job, did he?
This is just one of five fishing villages that make up a part of Italy called Cinque Terre, which means 'five towns' in Italian. This one is called Vernazza. Cinque Terre has been a Unesco World Heritage site since 1997, which means it is protected because it is important to the world's history and culture. It certainly looks pretty as a postcard to us!
On the island of Mull in the West Highlands of Scotland, you can find the picture-perfect village of Tobermory. It was built as a fishing port in the late 18th century and is now very popular with tourists, who come to wander around the colourful harbour. The children's television programme Balamory is also filmed here.
I don't think we have ever seen a more multicoloured house! This is in a place called La Boca in the capital city of Argentina, Buenos Aires. It's very popular with tourists, with lots of sellers and musicians making the streets extremely lively. It is called La Boca because this means 'mouth' in Spanish, as this neighbourhood is found at the mouth of the Matanza river.
Another waterside wonder is the beautiful harbour of Nyhavn in Copenhagen, which is the capital city of Denmark. Nyhavn was originally built as a busy fishing port. Ships from all over the world would dock here so merchants could buy and sell their goods, and rest their sea legs. Today, many of the buildings have been renovated and there are lots of smart restaurants. Many famous artists have lived here and the famous fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen also made it his home.
This is the historic district of Pelourinho in Salvador da Bahia, which is in Brazil. Salvador de Bahia is considered to be the first capital of Brazil from 1549 to 1763, but Brasilia is the capital of the country now. The old town is a World Heritage Site like Cinque Terre and it is well known around the world for its brightly coloured buildings.
- Published9 March 2020
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