Mussolini's greek villa up for sale

Rhodes - already a popular tourist destination Photo: Jelle Drok

The property, which sits high up on the island, was bulit for the Italian dictator in 1936 by Count Cesare De Vecchi. De Vecchi was a loyalist who was appointed as a ruler over the Dodecanese islands, with Rhodes intended to be used by Benito Mussolini as his retirement home.

He died, though, before ever having the chance to visit it, leaving the villa to be left abandoned following Greece's acquisition of the Dodecanese islands in the 1940s.

Now, the country is planning to offer a 50-year lease on the building as part of its plans to bolster the country's coffers. Indeed, while Rhodes and other parts of Greece are popular among visitors, with the tourism industry recently enjoying a rise in numbers, there are a growing number of other low-cost destinations with equally impressive beaches competing for holidaymakers' attention.

Greece's response is to sell off hundreds of state properties through the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund, including castles and military bases, to combat its deficit - including 14 former hospitals and hotels with an eye to convert them into unique, luxury accommodation. The De Vecchi property, with its two storeys and panaroma of the Aegean Sea, could be a popular, unusual place for visitors to stay.

"Villa De Vecchi is a historic, two-storey building which was built by the Italian occupation authorities," the development fund tells The Telegraph. "It is of unique architectural value and is located in an an area of unique natural beauty, which constitutes a popular tourism destination throughout the year."