Allegedly this villa, standing high in the hills of Rhodes island, was built for Italian Fascist dictator Butino Mussolini's retirement. In fact, Mussolini never set foot in the villa, having been killed at the end of WW2. It has been standing derelict since 1947 and incredibly, within the last few months, the Greek government has announced they intend to lease the villa in the near future to bring in much needed funds. Which makes me wonder just how bad a nation's finances must be when leasing out derps is considered a means to make income!
HISTORY
The Italianate-style timber and stone Villa De Vecchi was built in 1936 by Count Cesare De Vecchi, a staunch Mussolini loyalist who was appointed governor of the Dodecanese islands, which had been seized by Italy from the Ottoman Turks in 1912.
Despite the islands forming part of Mussolini’s plan to carve out a new Roman empire - he envisioned using Rhodes as a naval base from which he could project Italian power into the Near East - the Fascist dictator never set foot in the villa.
Instead, after being caught trying to flee from northern Italy to Switzerland at the end of the war, he was shot by partisans and his body, along with that of his mistress, was strung up from a petrol station in an act of public retribution.
The villa was abandoned after the Dodecanese were ceded to Greece in 1947.
Now the Greek government’s Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund is offering a 50-year lease on the rundown two-storey villa to help pay off Greece’s monumental debts.
REPORT
The villa stands at nearly 800m above sea level in a position that offers fantastic views of the Aegean Sea and the Turkish coastline.
With rather nice architectural features
And a car garage
Inside extremely derp-like with graffiti on every wall
From it's size, I assume this is the Master Bedroom, to be used by Mussolini himself
But for the leader of a major European power, I would had thought the bathroom was going to better than this
In a smaller bedroom, a single bed remains
Just outside the villa, is a derelict chapel
Thanks for reading
HISTORY
The Italianate-style timber and stone Villa De Vecchi was built in 1936 by Count Cesare De Vecchi, a staunch Mussolini loyalist who was appointed governor of the Dodecanese islands, which had been seized by Italy from the Ottoman Turks in 1912.
Despite the islands forming part of Mussolini’s plan to carve out a new Roman empire - he envisioned using Rhodes as a naval base from which he could project Italian power into the Near East - the Fascist dictator never set foot in the villa.
Instead, after being caught trying to flee from northern Italy to Switzerland at the end of the war, he was shot by partisans and his body, along with that of his mistress, was strung up from a petrol station in an act of public retribution.
The villa was abandoned after the Dodecanese were ceded to Greece in 1947.
Now the Greek government’s Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund is offering a 50-year lease on the rundown two-storey villa to help pay off Greece’s monumental debts.
REPORT
The villa stands at nearly 800m above sea level in a position that offers fantastic views of the Aegean Sea and the Turkish coastline.
With rather nice architectural features
And a car garage
Inside extremely derp-like with graffiti on every wall
From it's size, I assume this is the Master Bedroom, to be used by Mussolini himself
But for the leader of a major European power, I would had thought the bathroom was going to better than this
In a smaller bedroom, a single bed remains
Just outside the villa, is a derelict chapel
Thanks for reading
