In the centre of Oxford stands a handsome Gothic memorial of honey-coloured stone.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

Today this low-rise town is a modest spread of boxy cream-coloured stone, but its prosperous heyday was in the 6th Century and remnants of Byzantine finery remain behind its unassuming facades.

BBC: Travelling the slow route to Petra

'Even Ringo has adapted to the colours, ' she says, gesturing towards a sandy-coloured dog almost precisely the same hue as the stone flagstone on which he is lying.

BBC: The three colours of Ibiza