贝卢斯科尼豪宅藏地下洞穴 似007电影场景

Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi (L) waves as he arrives for a meeting of the European People's Party (EPP), in Brussels in this June 28, 2017 file photo.

Silvio Berlusconi's summer retreat on Sardinia's exclusive Costa Smeralda, which gained notoriety for parties with topless models, features an underground cave, complete with an emergency escape exit to the sea.

The existence of the cave at the former Italian prime minister's Villa Certosa estate had been rumoured for years but the first photographs of it emerged on Friday.

They were obtained by Antonello Zappadu, an Italian photographer who made his name in 2009 by taking long-lens pictures of scantily-clad showgirls at Mr Berlusconi's residence.

The cave, which could have come straight out of a James Bond film, features a swimming pool, its floor decorated with a mosaic of Poseidon, the god of the sea, holding a trident.

It is connected to a short tunnel and a gate which reportedly leads straight to the sea.

The cave is connected to the rest of the villa by stairs and a passageway, which are illuminated by discreetly placed lights set into the floor.

The underground complex is believed to have been built in 2004 but has never been seen publicly.

"It was the secret services who asked me to carry out the work, after I had received 38 death threats," Mr Berlusconi explained at the time.

He said he had sought advice on the design and construction from Pietro Lunardi, a cabinet colleague who was then the minister for infrastructure and insisted that no planning regulations had been broken.

Mr Zappadu, who now lives in Colombia, said on his blog that he had obtained the images from an anonymous source.

The semi-submerged cave is not the only flamboyant feature at Villa Certosa, a 150-acre estate where Mr Berlusconi has hosted the likes of Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin.

He once built an artificial volcano in the grounds of the villa to entertain guests at one of his parties.

Mr Berlusconi, who turns 76 this month, stepped down in November when Italy became immersed in the eurozone crisis and after his reputation was damaged by a series of sex scandals, most notably involving allegations that he paid for sex with an under age prostitute at "bunga bunga" parties at his mansion in Milan.

(Read by Rosie Tuck. Rosie Tuck is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)

双语资讯

(Agencies)

意大利一名摄影师近日曝光了前总理西尔维奥•贝卢斯科尼位于撒丁岛独有的翡翠海岸的一座度假别墅的地下洞穴照片，洞穴还连接着一个通往海面的紧急逃生出口。这座度假别墅因招待裸胸模特开派对而臭名昭著。

贝卢斯科尼的这处切尔托萨别墅有地下洞穴的传闻已经有好几年了，但照片在上周五才首次曝光。

这些照片是意大利摄影师安东内洛•扎帕杜公布的，他曾在2009年因在贝卢斯科尼的住处拍到衣着暴露的女郎的长镜头照片而出名。

这个人工洞穴酷似007系列电影场景：洞穴里有一个游泳池，池底有手持三叉戟的海神波塞冬的马赛克图像。

这个洞穴连接着一个较短的隧道和一扇直接通向海面的门。

洞穴通过楼梯和通道通往别墅的其他地方，通过小心安装在地板上的灯来照明。

据称洞穴修建于2004年，但从未被曝光。

贝卢斯科尼当时解释说：“是特务机关要求我修建的，在我收到了38次死亡威胁之后。”

他说自己向内阁同僚彼得罗-罗纳尔迪咨询了设计和建造，罗纳尔迪时任基础设施建设部长，坚称没有违反任何设计规程。

扎帕杜现居哥伦比亚。他在博客上说，照片从一位不愿公开姓名的人士处获得。

这个半掩水中的洞穴并不是切尔托萨别墅的唯一“亮点”。切尔托萨别墅占地150英亩，贝卢斯科尼曾在此处招待英国前首相布莱尔和俄罗斯总统普京。

在某次派对中，他曾在别墅内修建人工火山来娱乐宾客。

贝卢斯科尼本月将满76岁。他在去年11月卸任意大利总理，当时意大利深陷欧元区经济危机，而他自己也因一系列的性丑闻而声名狼藉。最著名的性丑闻包括在米兰宅邸举办bunga bunga派对，招徕未成年妓女花钱买春。

Vocabulary:

notoriety: 恶名，声名狼藉

mosaic: 马赛克

trident: 三叉戟

the likes of: 像这样的人