Fodor's Expert Review Maradona Mural

This small square 300 yards up the hill from Via Toledo is a shrine to to Napoli's all-time favorite soccer player, Diego Maradona. "The hand of God, the head of Maradona," quoth the famous Argentina-born superstar after scoring a much-disputed World cup goal against England. This sentiment and its ability to mix the earthly and fallible with the divine is also peculiarly Neapolitan. The south wall is dominated by a mural of the Argentine giant featuring his original Swarovski diamond earring. Painted by fan Mario Filardi in 1990 when Napoli won their second league title, it was given an overhaul in 2016 with the face subsequently retouched by Argentine street artist Francisco Bosoletti (whose mural Iside, inspired by Pudicizia del Corradini in the Cappella Sansevero, is on the west wall). When Maradona passed away in 2020, fans gathered here to pay their respects, as well as at the city’s stadium (now renamed Stadio Maradona), and the square has now transformed from a crammed parking lot to a colourful museum for the footballing hero, with pilgrims leaving photos, scarves and gadgets in tribute. There is another giant mural of Maradona in the eastern suburb of San Giovanni a Teduccio, painted by Neapolitan-Dutch artist Jorit in 2017.