In a quiet street in the popular neighborhoods of northern Naples hides a treasure for all grieving fans of Diego Maradona. A small secret museum, dedicated from floor to ceiling to the Argentinian legend, who died Wednesday at the age of 60. If the place is known to many Napoli tifosis, the official address is deliberately kept discreet. “The more confidential, the more beautiful”, we explain on the spot, not without a slight smile.
“You’ll see, it’s like a church here”
On the wall of an austere building, a striking fresco of the Argentinian milieu warns visitors that they have arrived safely. No doubt: in front of the gate where a banner floats, the cars roll in step. Two friends on a scooter slow down, the time for a sign of the cross and a cry: “Long live Diego! Here, no ticket office at the entrance, but a small staircase covered with stickers leading to the basement of the building. In the steps, a mother waits with her son for permission to enter to come and drop a word of condolence. “You’ll see, it’s like a church here,” she warns.
Passing through the door, we discover that the museum is in reality a small room of barely 15 square meters, transformed by Massimo Vignati into a real altar to the glory of number 10 of Napoli. The walls are covered with a constellation of photos, jerseys, pennants and other “relics” of the seven-year term of Maradona at the head of the Parthenopean city club.
A cloakroom bench at the museum
The “collection” is impressive and a bit confusing. “But every object counts,” swears Massimo. Everyone has a story. In a cluster of balloons presented in the center of the room, the tifoso thus points to a somewhat tired ball. “This is the victory against Turin, 3-1, in 1986. It was the first time that Naples won the Italian championship”, he recounts solemnly. Further on, a shoe engraved with the player’s name is displayed with veneration. Here, a training bag. There, the bench on which the D10S sat in the changing rooms of the San-Paolo stadium.
“All these objects, Diego gave them to my family and to my father who was in charge of the Naples stadium for 35 years,” says the guardian of the temple. When the patriarch, Saverio died, all his treasures were repatriated here in Miano, on the outskirts of the southern city. “For safety, lest the objects get lost,” he explains without dwelling on the details. But to promise: “Everything in this room will one day be able to return to San-Paolo.” In honor of Maradona, I would be happy to bring them back myself to help create a museum. Because not everything in this room is mine. It all belongs to the Neapolitans. ”
“With the disappearance of Maradona, my mother lost a son, and I lost a brother”
Massimo confides: these days, at the time of opening the doors of his cabinet of curiosities maradoniennes, the heart is not really there. The disappearance of the old glory of the city was experienced as a real “sledgehammer” by the Vignati. It must be said that the life of this modest Neapolitan family is intimately linked to that of the Argentine star. For seven years, Lucia, the mother, played the cook and the housekeeper in the house of Maradona, in the very chic district of Posillipo, says Massimo. “Me, I had the chance to grow up with Diego, to spend great moments in his company, to play football with him, to follow him in training. […] In short, to experience moments that few people have been able to experience. “With tired eyes, drawn features, hardly camouflaged by the mask, Massimo Vignati confides:” With the disappearance of Maradona, my mother lost a son, and I lost a brother. ”
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