The Cases de Colors are a row of brightly painted houses on the edge of La Vila Joiosa's old town, above the last stretch of the Amadorio river and close to the beach. They are one of the most photographed sights on the coast.
The row of brightly painted houses is one of the best-known sights of La Vila Joiosa (Villajoyosa). It is also one of the most photographed views in the area, with more than 12,000 photos on its Google listing. The houses stand on the edge of the old town, some of them directly on the Renaissance defensive walls, above the last stretch of the Amadorio river and close to Centro beach. According to eldiario.es, the old fishermen's houses were painted in different colours so they could be spotted from the boats on the way back to shore. The town's tourism website adds that residents began building on the walls in the late 18th century, when the threat from Algerian corsairs disappeared and the walls were no longer needed. The town was founded in 1301 by Admiral Bernat d'En Sarrià, and the walls were built in the mid-16th century after the devastating corsair raids of 1538 and 1543. The walls were declared a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) in 1985, and the old town is protected as a historic ensemble. The façades feature decorated eaves, niches, grilles and balconies, and the tourism website calls them the best-preserved example of traditional polychrome architecture in the western Mediterranean, alongside Girona, Malta and parts of Venice. The houses are best seen from the road bridge and the south bank of the river, and close up from Paseo San Pedro by Centro beach. The old town also has the Gothic fortress-church of the Assumption, with a wall-walk around the roof and arrow slits, and the surviving walls include round bastions. The fishermen's quarter, which stretches down to the beach, dates from the 18th century, when a growing population forced building outside the walls. Reviews often mention the promenade and the beach; one visitor praises the cafés along the promenade and the view towards Benidorm, while another notes that the colours are less vivid than in some photos. About 40 minutes is enough for the view itself, so combine it with a stroll around the old town and a visit to the Museo del Chocolate Valor, housed in the former small family factory of a company founded in 1881. Visitors come here by tram from Alicante and from Benidorm, among other ways; one of them warns that it is a long walk downhill from the stop to the beach, but there are lifts to help on the way back up. The houses are seen from the outside, as, one visitor notes, they are now mostly apartments.
The houses are seen from the outside.
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