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An abandoned palace on the Italian coastline has been left to rot and crumble away a century after it was built.
Once bustling with the world’s elites dancing in its dazzling ballroom, surrounded by luxury chandeliers and pricey marble statues the building spiralled into insignificance shortly after it opened up.
Located in Anzio, Italy, “Paradiso Sul Mare” roughly translates to “Paradise by the sea” and should be an iconic landmark loved internationally but only a few know it even exists, The Sun reports.
Plans were set in stone for the beautiful palace to be used as a centre for the rich and wealthy in Europe.
From hosting casino nights to fashion shows the plan was to make the beloved tourist spot a booming hub for fun and good times.
But after a devastating WW2 and dodgy leadership in Italy ended any flicker of hope was dashed away for the luxury palace and it fell into complete obscurity.
Today it sits overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea – forgotten, wrecked and losing its classical shine.
Pictures show old papers chucked on the floor and broken bits of the graffiti-covered walls and lights scattered around the place.
Designed in 1919, the palace faced the waterfront and was seen as a building that would go on to host several important events for the rich and wealthy.
The palace was linked to the Art Nouveau movement that took over Europe at the start of the 20th century.
Entrepreneur and mayor of Anzio Giuseppe Polli, who commissioned the site, wanted it to be the new hub of culture by hosting fashion shows, corporate events and even casino nights that drew in hundreds for each event willing to splash their cash.
The building was first opened in 1924 and was seen as a sophisticated and artsy place by people walking past and drew many in off the beachfront.
The wealthy in society saw the beautiful structure as the place to be and the tourist-friendly spot by the seaside made it an almost guaranteed success story.
Standing five stories tall, the already elevated plot of land overlooked the picturesque Italian shoreline.
With giant skylight windows and amazing religious artwork littered around the place, it drew in many visitors to gaze at its glory.
The hand-drawn art carried on throughout the inside of the palace with sleek gold trimmings stuck on the giant Roman pillars and fancy metal railings.
On the bottom floor sits a dance hall and dining room as two gaming rooms are laid out upstairs.
The coastal regions of Italy were being benefited by an economic boom to several tourist locations meaning businessmen and women were looking to invest big money into spots just like Anzio.
Shortly after the grand opening, Mussolini’s rulership campaign started to kick off and swallowed up the money flying around and drove people out of Italy.
The fascist regime taking over the country essentially sent people pivoting away from the idea of luxury and individualism and towards a united loyal nation that served its dictator.
Mussolini’s views strongly misaligned with what Polli and the palace were trying to achieve and so it was left unappreciated for decades.
Further development of the building came to a virtual standstill and it was turned into a military base during WW2.
Paradiso Sul Mare was used by the allies when they came into Italy as one of their command centres and it played a pivotal role in the war.
It took decades for the building to be noticed again when it was seized by the local government and turned into a school in the late 60s.
Only part of the giant palace was used to teach as the other parts sat abandoned and collecting dust.
The school proved a bad idea as it wasn’t a popular destination for students and after ten years it was closed down for good.
The building was then used by a different school that taught people in the hospitality industry.
Over the years it got treated worse and worse and wasn’t looked after properly.
The building started to collapse in 2015 as it was abandoned completely and left to get even worse.
It started to decay and become dangerously rotting as it sat in the Italian sunshine unused and unloved.
An inspection done in 2016 by the Anziodiva Civic Association confirmed “very serious signs of deterioration,” and they sent a letter to the mayor about the problem.
They also blamed the school that was now long gone for their unbothered attitude to keeping it up to scratch and utter incompetence.
Despite its luxury interior and fascinating look, it’s now been left as just a lowly storage unit for a nearby museum.
Now owned by the town once again, the hope is for them to pump some much-needed cash into a restoration project and return it to its former glory.
Earlier this year another infamous palace was discovered.
Belonging to one of the world’s most bloodthirsty tyrants, Saddam Hussein’s group of 100 crumbling palaces and villas live on to this day.
After oppressing Iraq for three hideous decades – the ruthless blokes blood-stained empire of greed and decadence has been left untouched for decades after the chaos of war.
A whopping 52-room castle with a giant swimming pool and a ballroom was also left abandoned for decades after its owner went rogue.
The 20th-century castle, located in the Polish village of Lapalice, near Gdansk was left to crumble before it was even completed.
This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission
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