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| First pictures published of Berlusconi's secret Sardinian grotto | First pictures published of Berlusconi's secret Sardinian grotto |
| (7 months later) | |
| With its garish, purple and turquoise lighting and dominant water feature, it looks like a cross between an Italian nightclub and a fantastic facility that could have been dreamt up by Ian Fleming. | With its garish, purple and turquoise lighting and dominant water feature, it looks like a cross between an Italian nightclub and a fantastic facility that could have been dreamt up by Ian Fleming. |
| In fact, it is the grotto through which Silvio Berlusconi's guests arrive by sea at his flamboyant retreat on Sardinia. The existence of the entrance has been known about since 2004 when opposition politicians objected to a series of changes to his villa and estate on the Costa Smeralda, saying they were initiated without planning permission. | In fact, it is the grotto through which Silvio Berlusconi's guests arrive by sea at his flamboyant retreat on Sardinia. The existence of the entrance has been known about since 2004 when opposition politicians objected to a series of changes to his villa and estate on the Costa Smeralda, saying they were initiated without planning permission. |
| But now, for the first time, photographs have been published. The tunnel enables visitors to reach the billionaire TV magnate's hideaway through gates concealing a grotto beneath his villa. | But now, for the first time, photographs have been published. The tunnel enables visitors to reach the billionaire TV magnate's hideaway through gates concealing a grotto beneath his villa. |
| Once inside, they can step from their boat onto a walkway, climb a short flight of stairs, stroll through an ante-chamber with more coloured lights set in the floor, and then go up another short flight of stairs carved out of the rock to a lift that carries them into the villa. The photographs show an underwater mosaic of the sea-god Neptune set into the floor. | Once inside, they can step from their boat onto a walkway, climb a short flight of stairs, stroll through an ante-chamber with more coloured lights set in the floor, and then go up another short flight of stairs carved out of the rock to a lift that carries them into the villa. The photographs show an underwater mosaic of the sea-god Neptune set into the floor. |
| The photographs were posted on the website of Antonello Zappadu, the photographer whose pictures of life inside the villa prompted one of a string of sex scandals involving Berlusconi during his last term in office. In 2009, the Spanish newspaper El Pais published photographs taken by Zappadu showing naked and semi-naked guests, including a former Czech prime minister, in the grounds of Berlusconi's Villa Certosa. | The photographs were posted on the website of Antonello Zappadu, the photographer whose pictures of life inside the villa prompted one of a string of sex scandals involving Berlusconi during his last term in office. In 2009, the Spanish newspaper El Pais published photographs taken by Zappadu showing naked and semi-naked guests, including a former Czech prime minister, in the grounds of Berlusconi's Villa Certosa. |
| In text accompanying the latest photographs, Zappadu asks whether the former prime minister obtained the "permissions needed to excavate under the rocks and alter the sea floor with Roman empire-style mosaics". When questions of a similar kind were raised in 2004, Italy's top spymaster intervened in the controversy to say the work was required to secure the villa for use by Berlusconi in the event that he was forced to flee Rome. | In text accompanying the latest photographs, Zappadu asks whether the former prime minister obtained the "permissions needed to excavate under the rocks and alter the sea floor with Roman empire-style mosaics". When questions of a similar kind were raised in 2004, Italy's top spymaster intervened in the controversy to say the work was required to secure the villa for use by Berlusconi in the event that he was forced to flee Rome. |
| Villa Certosa was used by Berlusconi to host meetings with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and other world leaders, including Tony Blair and his wife Cherie. When news of the improvements leaked out eight years ago, Berlusconi said the secret services had asked him to build the dock because of "the continual visits by foreign leaders and death threats he had received". | Villa Certosa was used by Berlusconi to host meetings with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and other world leaders, including Tony Blair and his wife Cherie. When news of the improvements leaked out eight years ago, Berlusconi said the secret services had asked him to build the dock because of "the continual visits by foreign leaders and death threats he had received". |
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