Diego Maradona in Buenos Aires: 7 neighborhoods that pay artistic tributes to the Argentine idol

Iconic is not good enough. The soccer player in the world and national idol left a mark in the hearts of all Argentinians. Today, several months after his death, Buenos Aires fills its walls with street art celebrating his life. In this article, you will tour the different neighborhoods and their “Maradonian” wall art.

A legend. Not a sports, not even a soccer legend. Diego Armando Maradona is a cultural, urban legend, of the very local folklore. A symbol that goes across towns, capital cities, borders and even dialects. A celebrity who guides any foreigner’s compass towards the southernmost country in the world. For Argentinians, a national idol who is felt in each corner. Because "el Diez" [Number Ten], as he was called, is much more than a simple numerical combination for our country. 

Diego's career began in Villa Fiorito and the Argentinos Juniors club was the first to see him do magic with the ball. Later, he left his mark in Boca Juniors and, some years after that, he displayed his talent in foreign lands: the Barcelona, his beloved Napoli and even the Sevilla clubs. The number 10 on his Argentine team T-shirt suited him very well to bring soccer glory to the country in 1986. We always return to our mother's arms, as it is said. And that is what Maradona did in the last years of his career: he returned to Argentina to play in local clubs until his retirement in 1997. 

Several months have passed since his death, and Buenos Aires honors one of the best soccer players in the world with one of Argentina's mainstays: art. Entire neighborhoods remember him with murals, painted window blinds, graffiti, building facades and even changes in the names of the streets. Street art turns the city into a true Maradonian open-air museum. Now, what is the Buenos Aires artistic route to remember him? 

La Boca 

The emblematic neighborhood that cradled Maradona in his beginnings. La Bombonera - one of the most famous stadiums in the country - celebrates the life of el Diez with paintings around the entire venue, where he is remembered with the xeneize (Boca fans’ nickname) T-shirt and the Argentine team’s, always accompanied by a ball. 

The tour starts in La Bombonera and continues throughout the neighborhood, since the blue and yellow walls reveal years of soccer history and a clear inspiration in Maradona. The main graffiti can be found at:

• Intersection of Juan de Dios Filiberto and Brandsen: the classic corner across from the Bombonera where he can be seen lifting the world cup, shouting a goal and playing with the national and the neighborhood’s soccer T-shirts. 
• Aristóbulo del Valle and Irala: an unforgettable goal in the 1986 World Cup and the combination of letters and numbers to form the word “D10S” (God).
• Suárez and Dr. del Valle Iberlucea: "Diego Vive" (Diego is alive), one of the phrases that have resonated the most since his death.
• 50 Aristóbulo del Valle St: San Diego de La Boca, a work of art which pictures him as a saint.

La Paternal

Home of the Argentinos Juniors soccer stadium, where Diego made his debut at age 15. A few years ago it was renamed "Estadio Diego Armando Maradona" in his honor. As another cradle that saw him born, this stadium is home to countless street art circuits and the Maradona house museum, where he lived when he trained and played for that club. This is where his art can be photographed in the streets of the neighborhood:

• 2145 Boyacá Avenue: one of the most visited paintings on the outer walls of the stadium. Sometimes you can see flowers and soccer T-shirts that fans leave to remember him.
• Corner of Boyacá Avenue and San Blas St: under the title "Pride of a neighborhood", find Maradona with the shirt of the local club. On the other side, the blue color of the flag in a sky with clouds, Maradona dressed in red and the number 10 embraced by two arms.
• Corner of Álvarez Jonte and Linneo: the tallest painting in the area - and one of the best known - in the house museum. Painted on a wall of the building rooftop, it is eleven meters high and can be seen from the street.
• Corner of Avenida San Martín and Miguel Ángel: again with the Argentinos T-shirt, the wall reads “Tierra de Dios” (Land of God). 

 Palermo

Palermo is always present in the trends, so Maradona could not be absent. He was also immortalized on the walls of this neighborhood. Where? From the most classic circuits in the heart of Palermo to Libertador Avenue. Diego's paintings add to the characteristic art of the area to give even more color and meaning to outdoor art:

• El Salvador and Gurruchaga: a memory of the world cup, won by the team led by Maradona.
• Libertador Avenue between Dorrego and Bullrich: one of the largest murals (40 meters long by 6 meters high). The brush-strokes portray the historic goal to the English team scored with his hand - a milestone that gave him the nickname "the hand of God". 

 San Telmo

A truly traditional neighborhood. Picturesque, with plenty of food proposals and a history encapsulated amidst cobbled streets. It is also home to squares where the artistic potential of Buenos Aires unfolds with tango dances, and craft and antique fairs. As an authentic Argentine corner, its walls also shout goals with blue and white tints. What are its must-see murals?

• 1084 Bolívar St: among yellow, green and blue strokes, Diego running with the number 10 Argentina’s soccer shirt.
• 823 San Juan Avenue: a very original one painted with different colors and grids that, together, reveal the face of "el Diez". 

Villa Devoto

Even the streets change their names when emblematic characters leave. This was the case of Segurola and Habana, a symbolic corner of the neighborhood where Diego lived, which became famous after a dispute with another player. Today, Maradona’s fans have renamed the corner "Diego" and "Maradona", as another gesture of recognition to the popular idol.

• On 2993 Gualeguaychú St, there is another well-known mural, painted on a restaurant door. El Diez has been portrayed with the hairstyle he used to have when he was young and, as if the image was not “Argentinian” enough, he is holding a slice of pizza in his hand. 

 Caballito

A place that is outside the classic circuit but deserves to be mentioned anyway, because there is a variety of restaurants, green lungs that serve as a meeting point, markets, museums and - obviously - odes to Maradona. These are three of the most famous ones:

• Tte. Gral Donato Álvarez Avenue and Bacacay: on one of the walls that borders El Patio de los Lecheros food market you can see a mural of el Diez with the Argentine shirt and wings on his back. There is also an exhibition of paintings dedicated to him inside. 
• Tres Arroyos and Seguí: the two words that resonated the most after his death give rise to a blue, white and light blue wall that says “Diego eterno” (Diego is eternal).
• 373 Gral. Martin de Gainza: a caricature of Diego holding the world cup.

La Plata

Maradona's most historic goal, the one that made him famous as the “hand of God” in the 1986 World Cup, is perfectly illustrated in the streets of La Plata. This and many others, because the famous diagonals of the southern city also show the history of the soccer player and the mark he left in the world. 

• Corner of 131 and 56 Streets: the entire move that gave him the name of “the hand of God” is almost three blocks long and was restored in commemoration of Maradona's 60th birthday (one month before his death).
• 9th Street between 60 and 61: a phrase from the song "La Mano de Dios", by Rodrigo - an iconic “cuarteto” singer from Cordoba - along with a painting of Diego in black and white, wearing the Argentina's soccer shirt.