Why Calabria’s Diamante Murales are Worth Visiting, Diamante, Italy

With a plethora of fabulous tourist destinations in southern Italy’s Calabria region, the famous Murales(murals) in Diamante are definitely worth visiting…

I have to let you in on a little secret, I did go slightly crazy taking loads of photos today. But the murals are not the only attraction in this pretty coastal town.

The Preite bus from the Cosenza Autostazione to Diamante costs 5€ one-way and takes around one and a half hours. Make sure you tell the driver beforehand to stop at Diamante as he doesn’t go into the town, instead drives past. You are dropped on the highway and need to cross this to get to the town’s side, then walk down the steep hill. When you need to return, there’s an old dilapidated bus shelter without seats on the town side, opposite to where the bus dropped you off.

With over one hundred and fifty murals decorating Diamante and painted on almost every wall of every narrow laneway, you will have fun exploring this art. I’ve recently heard that there are around three-hundred murals now, but not sure if this is correct?

Focusing on a different subject or theme, emerging and established artists started leaving their mark on the walls of Diamante, back in 1981. The original idea ‘Operazione murales’ came from the painter Nanni Razzetti, whom was given the go-ahead on his idea from local council. And so, the ancient stone walls became a real-life easel for around eighty-three of Razzetti’s colleagues. Since 1981, some murals have deteriorated to just a scraping or a faded smear across walls. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).