Lavish lairs: inside the homes of the world's worst dictators
Tour the most infamous despot dwellings

Adolf Hitler's residence, Berlin, Germany

Adolf Hitler's residence, Berlin, Germany

Adolf Hitler's residence, Berlin, Germany

Adolf Hitler's residence, Berlin, Germany

Hitler's private office was more compact and austere. Aside from his official Berlin residence, he owned a country retreat, the Berghof near Berchtesgaden, along with an apartment in Munich, and spent more than 800 days during World War II in the fortified bunker of the Wolfsschanze (Wolf's Lair) near Gierłoż in modern-day Poland.
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Adolf Hitler's residence, Berlin, Germany

Adolf Hitler's residence, Berlin, Germany

Nicolae Ceaușescu's home, Bucharest, Romania

Nicolae Ceaușescu's home, Bucharest, Romania

Nicolae Ceaușescu's home, Bucharest, Romania

Nicolae Ceaușescu's home, Bucharest, Romania

Nicolae Ceaușescu's home, Bucharest, Romania

Emullating the lavish interiors of the world's richest, the master bedroom is kitted out with Versailles-esque furniture and copious gilding, along with a priceless Murano glass mirror and yet another crystal chandelier.
Nicolae Ceaușescu's home, Bucharest, Romania

However, Ceaușescu saved the most eye-popping decor for the bathroom. The fixtures are made from solid gold, from the taps to the toilet roll holders. The dictator's nightmare rule came to an end in 1989 during the Romanian Revolution, when Ceausescu and his wife were convicted of genocide and executed by firing squad on Christmas Day. The property of the Romanian government, the palace is now a museum.
Ferdinand Marcos' mansion, Tacloban City, Philippines

Ferdinand Marcos' mansion, Tacloban City, Philippines

Ferdinand Marcos' mansion, Tacloban City, Philippines

Ferdinand Marcos' mansion, Tacloban City, Philippines

Ferdinand Marcos' mansion, Tacloban City, Philippines

If the master bedroom at the Tacloban City mansion is anything to go by, it's not hard to work out why Imelda was dubbed “Marie Antoinette with shoes”. In fact, the gold-adorned room is so opulent and palatial, it even puts even the royal bedchambers at Versailles to shame.
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Ferdinand Marcos' mansion, Tacloban City, Philippines

Saddam Hussein's palace, Baghdad, Iraq

Saddam Hussein's palace, Baghdad, Iraq

Saddam Hussein's palace, Baghdad, Iraq

Saddam Hussein's palace, Baghdad, Iraq

Saddam Hussein's palace, Baghdad, Iraq

The enormous building incorporates both traditional Arabic and European design influences, such as this glittering Art Deco-inspired chandelier, which graces one of the structure's fine marble staircases. Incredibly, it takes a team of 40 between five and six hours to clean the entire palace.
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Saddam Hussein's palace, Baghdad, Iraq

Benito Mussolini's villa, Rome, Italy

Benito Mussolini's villa, Rome, Italy

Benito Mussolini's villa, Rome, Italy

Benito Mussolini's villa, Rome, Italy

Benito Mussolini's villa, Rome, Italy

Benito Mussolini's villa, Rome, Italy

Mussolini had a bunker installed beneath the property, which was constructed to defend against chemical attacks and bomb blasts. After the fall of the Fascist regime in 1943 and the death of the dictator two years later, the property was occupied by US forces and then fell into disrepair. In recent years, the villa has undergone restoration works and is now open to the public.
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Francisco Franco's manor house, Galicia, Spain

Francisco Franco's manor house, Galicia, Spain

Francisco Franco's manor house, Galicia, Spain

Francisco Franco's manor house, Galicia, Spain

Francisco Franco's manor house, Galicia, Spain

Francisco Franco's manor house, Galicia, Spain

Last year the dictator's grandchildren put the country pile up for sale with an asking price of £6.8 million ($9m). The property is listed with Mikeli Luxury Real Estate.
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Muammar Gaddafi's compound, Tripoli, Libya

Muammar Gaddafi's compound, Tripoli, Libya

Muammar Gaddafi's compound, Tripoli, Libya

Muammar Gaddafi's compound, Tripoli, Libya

Muammar Gaddafi's compound, Tripoli, Libya

Gaddafi, who had fled to his home town of Sirte, was killed by National Transitional Council forces on 20 October 2011. Following his death, the colonel's compound was looted and vandalised. Now used as a market and occupied by squatters, much of it has been destroyed.
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