Italian council buys Mussolini’s villa

... to keep it away from ‘fascist nostalgics’

An Italian council has bought a villa where Benito Mussolini spent his summer holidays, partly to avoid the property falling into the hands of “fascist nostalgics”. Daniela Angelini, the leftwing mayor of Riccione, a town close to Rimini along Italy’s Adriatic coast, said the acquisition of Villa Mussolini through an auction was “an act of love and vision” and that bringing it back into public hands was a victory for the entire town.

Riccione’s council had fend­ed off competition from a private buyer who was a former member of the Italian Social Movement, the neofascist par­ty founded in 1946 by Musso­lini’s lingering supporters.

The villa has a long, controversial history. Built steps away from the sea in 1893, it was bought by Mussolini’s second wife, Rachele, in 1934. The fascist dictator, who was born in Predappio, another town in the Emilia-Romagna region, would arrive by seaplane and often used the villa for government business during his stays. The Mussolini family expan­d­ed the property to include a third floor, 20 rooms and a tennis court.

After the WWII and fall of the fascist regime in Italy, the property came under public ownership. During Riccione’s economic boom in the 1950s and 60s, it was used for various commercial purposes, including a veterinary clinic for dogs and a restaurant. A communist mayor of Riccione tried to have it razed in the late 1970s.

The villa was abandoned for years before being bought in the 1990s by Rimini’s Cassa di Risparmio savings bank which restored it in 2005 as a place for art exhibitions and public events, including civil weddings. The presence of the villa and its Mussolini links have divided Riccione, with debate resurfacing last year when the Cassa di Risparmio foundation decided to auction it. Councillors from Brothers of Italy, the far-right party of PM Giorgia Meloni, argued whoe­ver bought the property must not change its name from Villa Mussolini.