THE REBIRTH OF SILVIO BERLUSCONI – AND HIS NOTORIOUS PARTY PALACE
▶ As former Italian PM eyes return to power, he is sprucing up Villa Cortese in readiness.
The main attraction of Villa Certosa is the “Cave of the Stars”, where an artificial night sky shines in its dark rock walls. Few in Italy are unaware of this place in Sardinia, as it is the holiday home of former Prime Minister and billionaire media mogul Silvio Berlusconi.
The 126-room, 4,500 square metre mansion also has a small amphitheatre and a kitschy, Hollywood-inspired volcano that burps lava and trembles at night.
From 1994, during Mr Berlusconi’s political reign of about 15 years – nine as prime minister – the estate that spans more than 100 hectares among Mediterranean maquis on the Costa Smeralda served as the real seat of power in Italy.
It was here that Mr Berlusconi, at the peak of his popularity, hosted foreign heads of state and dignitaries, practically running the country from this enchanting place, much as the emperor Tiberius ruled the Roman Empire from the island of Capri 2,000 years earlier.
At Villa Certosa, there is another secret cave, excavated to give boats and submarines direct access from the sea, which Russian President Vladimir Putin is said to have used during his many visits to his “friend Silvio”.
Other leaders, such as Tony Blair, have been guests at Villa Certosa, with Mr Berlusconi famously pictured wearing a white bandana on his head during the stay of the former British prime minister and his wife, Cherie.
Yet the villa is better known as the venue for Mr Berlusconi’s many “bunga bunga” parties.
Villa Certosa ultimately became a symbol of the dangerous personification of Italian politics with the “king” moving away from the country’s institutions, evoking memories of Louis XIV, the “Sun King” of France, who moved his residence to Versailles in the 17th century, secluding himself from the people.
His fall was perhaps inevitable. In 2012, soon after Mr Berlusconi stepped down as prime minister and with Italy on the verge of a debt crisis, Villa Certosa was first put up for sale with a price tag of €475 million.
It was again on the market two years later, with “King Silvio” ousted from politics after a conviction for tax fraud.
Wealthy buyers were said to have been interested, from Russian billionaires to Arabian Gulf investors, without any deal being concluded.
Last summer, in what had become an annual occurrence, reports surfaced once again that Villa Certosa was up for sale, but something unexpected happened: in October, against all odds, Mr Berlusconi’s party Forza Italia swept to a victory in regional elections in Sicily.
That was a turning point for Mr Berlusconi, 81, who once again believed he could lead Italy 24 years after his first premiership.
His “return to power must be taken seriously, not just because of himself, but because his voters do”, says Giovanni Orsina, a professor of history at Luiss University in Rome.
Villa Certosa has also regained some of its old gravitas after this new-found ambition, serving as venue for a summit of top-ranking Forza Italia representatives. During that weekend in November, they hammered out a strategy for next month’s general elections.
In anticipation of Mr Berlusconi’s bloc winning, or taking a significant amount of votes nationwide, it seems that Villa Certosa is being prepared to retake its place in the political landscape.
Idra Immobiliare, the property holding company that owns and manages all the Berlusconi empire’s properties, has issued an €80m bond, believed to be for financing recent acquisitions of nearby villas to be added to the main estate, and for further renovation work.
But it may not be that straightforward, says Francesco Specchia, a political analyst and writer for the Libero newspaper that reported Villa Certosa was up for sale last summer.
“Villa Certosa was the core location for the Berlusconi playboy and bon viveur era. That time is over,” Specchia says.
He says there are two possible scenarios. The first is that there is a great Berlusconi political comeback – although he may not be premier again because of the tax fraud conviction – which would actually lead to the sale of Villa Certosa.
Another spectacular estate, Villa San Martino in the Milan countryside, would become Mr Berlusconi’s new political headquarters in that case, Specchia says, “so he may divide himself between Milan and Rome”.
In the second scenario, in which Mr Berlusconi flops in the elections, he would “then move to Sardinia in his Buen Retiro to spend his days” at Villa Certosa.
As the general elections in Italy approach and the polls show Mr Berlusconi’s party’s popularity skyrocketing, it appears at last that the man and his castle may soon be parted.
There is a secret cave, excavated to give boats and submarines direct access, said to have been used by Vladimir Putin