Without a burning chapel at the Mediaset studios for reasons of public order, as were the initial intentions of the family, hundreds of Berlusconi supporters made a pilgrimage yesterday to the Villa San Martino, in Arcore, the official residence of the former prime minister Italian on the northern outskirts of . Some were part of his 20,000 employees – he preferred to call them “collaborators” -; others, supporters of Milan or Monza, the football teams he bought during his lifetime; or simply admirers who wanted to pay tribute to the businessman and politician who died on Monday at the age of 86.
Like Franca and Alberta, two retirees aged 78 and 77, who left a letter there, with tears in their eyes. They always voted for him, even during his most turbulent times of sexual and judicial scandals. “Those who attacked him were unworthy people”, they defend, without hesitation. “He was a wonderful person, who saw beyond the horizon, who loved everyone. It’s in our hearts, I can’t say anything more”, said the first, with a broken voice, in front of a banner with the face of the founder of Forza Italia. “Before it was a jungle. We felt safer with him.”
The villa of Arcore is much more than a sumptuous mansion of a billionaire. It is the headquarters from where Berlusconi ran his political, media and business empire, where he treasured the trophies of the Rossoneri club or recorded his last election announcements, in which he warned against the dangers of the return of communism. Also one of the scenes of their sordid sexual bacchanals, better known as bunga bunga parties. The Moroccan Karima el Mahroug, better known as Ruby Trencacors, a regular at these evenings, has preferred the discretion of social networks to say goodbye. “Goodbye, president”, he posted, next to an icon of a broken heart.
In front of the main doors of the mansion they placed Milan scarves, Forza Italia flags, flowers, cards, stuffed animals, trophies or a large banner with the inscription: “Thank you for the enthusiasm you have given us”. “I wanted to say goodbye to him. He was truly a person who loved Italy and Italians and did so much for us, he had a big heart. Even though he was a millionaire, he was very humble”, said Luisa, who has a fond memory of once meeting him in a supermarket.
Inside was the private vigil reserved for the closest relatives and the most intimate acquaintances, starting with the magnate’s five children, Marina and Pier Silvio, the result of his first marriage with Elvira dall’Oglio, and Barbara, Eleonora and Luigi, from his second marriage, with Veronica Lario, heirs to the empire valued at 6,000 million euros that Berlusconi accumulated over the years through the Fininvest holding.
“Tajani is coming”, warned an Italian reporter, about Berlusconi’s number two in Forza Italia, the foreign minister, who had brought up his return from an official trip to the United States due to the news of the death. Dozens of journalists gathered in front of these fences, hoping to identify the occupants of the cars entering and leaving a bastion surrounded by mysteries. There are those who say that he saw Angela della, mother of the “wife” of the Cavaliere, his last partner, the deputy Marta Fascina, who was half a century younger than him, and that he never separated from her minute during the last hospitalizations.
This villa is also the place where in the nineties he had the sculptor Pietro Cascella build an enormous Carrara marble mausoleum. If at his residence in Sardinia there was an artificial volcano to liven up his parties, in this case he was inspired by the tombs of Hadrian or Tutankhamun, where he wanted to be buried. It is impossible to see from the outside, but there are several witnesses that corroborate its existence underground. He has two sarcophagi, Cascella explained: one to be buried in, and another with around thirty empty tombs for his relatives and collaborators, whom he wanted with the honor to rest here for eternity. He offered it, in fact, to the famous journalist Indro Montanelli, who responded with a memorable phrase in Latin: “Num sum dignus” (I am not worthy).
But it is likely that these graves will all be empty. The mayor of Arcore has already told the Italian media that it is not clear that he can be buried here, after the state funeral that will be held today at the Duomo in Milan, due to legal issues, and not even Berlusconi’s parents rest in this marble pantheon.
“Unfortunately, I did not have the honor of meeting him, but those who knew him know very well that there is no other like him”, explained Federica, a voter who has brought her young children to see the tributes “What about sex parties? It’s his private life, the others do it too, but they don’t say it – he pointed out. It’s the first time I’ve brought flowers this way, but I couldn’t do anything else, I admire her too much.”
