A Journey Through Napoli’s Murals in the Spanish Quarters
In the Spanish Quarters, among staircases, voices, and clotheslines, football isn’t something you watch — it’s something you live, painted on the walls. Every alley here tells a decades-long love story: the one between Naples and its football team. At the heart of this feeling pulse the murals — urban icons that turn sporting identity into visual language, street art, and popular devotion.
Maradona: the eternal god of football
At the center of this journey is Diego Armando Maradona, celebrated in what is now one of the most photographed murals in Europe: the huge portrait on the façade of Via Emanuele De Deo, originally painted in 1990 by Mario Filardi and updated over time. It’s not just an image — it’s a secular altar, adorned with lit candles, scarves, flags, and handwritten messages.
Around this sacred face, other murals unfold the many sides of Diego: the genius, the redemption, the contradiction, the eternal love affair with the city. It’s an open-air narrative, a spontaneous popular museum that evolves with every emotion.
An ever-evolving urban gallery
But it’s not just Maradona anymore. After the league titles of 2023 and 2025, new faces have started appearing on the walls of the Spanish Quarters:
• Luciano Spalletti, coach of the first post-Maradona title.
• Victor Osimhen, with his iconic mask and magnetic smile.
• Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the Georgian playmaker turned symbol.
• Collective images of celebrations — the city bursting with chants, fireworks, and joy.
Each artwork is a piece of recent history, a tribute born from the community, painted by local artists or passing fans.
A secular pilgrimage for tourists and supporters
Visiting these murals is more than a walk — it’s an immersion in the shared emotion of a people, a way to hear the city speak through its walls.
You can start on Via De Deo, climb through the alleys, discover hidden decorated corners, and stop to chat with the locals — who are often the guardians of these artworks.
Some protect them with covers; others add symbols, dedications, or poems.
You don’t have to be a fan to be moved: just watch, and let yourself be swept away by this story of color, passion, and belonging.
