Saladillo Pop II

In the days of old Maracaibo’s port, families often reused the sturdy leftover paints that arrived on ships—marine hues meant for hulls found new life on adobe and wood. That practical habit blossomed into a polychrome tradition, so a single façade could sing in many tones: a seafarer’s palette turned into street-side poetry.

Scholars also note that vivid color is a longstanding Caribbean language of architecture—suited to light and climate—now inseparable from the Saladillo’s identity.

These are the famous little houses of El Saladillo, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, whose multicolored façades form the emblematic and cultural Calle Carabobo—a living symbol of the city’s heritage and memory.