English: "Mussolini House" Rodos.

"Mussolini's House" at Profitas Iias, Rhodes. The villa was the summer residence of General Di Vecchi, Italian Governor of Rhodes between 1936-1940.

It is opposite to and overlooks the Hotel "Elaphos and Elaphina" File:HotelElaphos.JPG which are near the Byzantine monastery named "Prophotes Elias". There are two buildings, a three-storeyed one, "Elaphos" and a two-storeyed one, "Elaphina", both with a basement and a high pitched, wooden roof. The walls are built of stones in a cement frame, while all the window frames and balconies are made of wood.

The "Elaphos" hotel was begun by the Italians in 1929 as Albergo del Cervo. In 1930, a ground floor restaurant with a large veranda, a tennis court and a dancing floor were added while later on, the second floor was constructed, replacing the veranda. In 1932 the building was extended with a new wing, called "Elaphina". Thus, the hotel was finally named "Elaphos and Elaphina" after a the deer Dama dama platoni that lives in the woods nearby.

Profitas Ilias is 8 km from Eleousa (Profitis Ilias-Campochiaro). During their occupation of Rhodes the Italians built four agricultural villages that would be populated by Italian settlers families. Three of them stood not far from the coast: San Benedetto (currently: Kolymbia), San Marco (near Kattavia) and Peveragno (now: Kato Kalamata). One lay more inland, on a spur of the mountain: Profitis Ilias-Campochiaro (now Eleousa) dates back to 1935-1936. The village, like the other three was constructed with a Roman Catholic Church, a school, a Casa del Fascio (local of the fascist party, with a now gone tower), municipal services, medical service, shops and even a cinema. All these buildings were (and are) grouped around a rectangular town square. (File:EleousaRodos.JPG) Hydraulic works were also carried out, with a view to irrigation and power generation. For instance, there was a small hydroelectric plant that provided electricity. The round pond with fountain just outside the village is a reminder of these interventions. The settlers who came from the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, each received a house and a plot of land.