Walking through Belfast feels like stepping into a living history book. The city’s past is not only found in museums or historic buildings. It appears on its streets, in its neighbourhoods and, most famously, on its walls. The famous Belfast murals are much more than examples of street art. They are a way to understand Northern Ireland’s recent history, the identities of different communities and the legacy of a conflict that shaped the city for decades: The Troubles. For man

For more than three decades, Northern Ireland lived through one of the most complex conflicts in modern European history: the Troubles — A period that deeply shaped Belfast and the entire region. From the late 1960s until 1998, violence affected thousands of lives. Bombings, political divisions, military presence, segregated neighbourhoods and deep mistrust between communities became part of everyday reality in cities like Belfast. The conflict mainly involved two communities