Gran Sasso: If it was good enough for Il Duce...

Paul Bompard visits a resort in the Apennines that was a holiday retreat ? and later a prison ? for Mussolini

"This is just like The Shining!" gasped my companion in awed excitement as we huddled in bed listening to the wind howling around the old, almost empty hotel. Attempts to open the window brought freezing air and snowflakes roaring into the room. Outside, 16in icicles shaped by the 60mph gale grew horizontally from the railings of the terrace.

It was early summer and only 70 miles from sunny Rome, but we were at an altitude of 7,000ft on the Gran Sasso, the highest part of the Apennines. The highest peak, the Corno Grande, soared above us at over 9,000ft. Earlier, we had been whisked up in the cable car that in winter is the only connection between Campo Imperatore and the outside world.

Campo Imperatore is a small, rolling plateau that became a ski resort in the 1920s. Since then, little has changed. The only major building is the Albergo Campo Imperatore, a massive structure in impressive pre-war modern style. The resort was much frequented by Benito Mussolini and the Fascist establishment, and it was here that, in August 1943, Il Duce was imprisoned by the Italians after his fall from power.

And it was from Campo Imperatore that, on 12 September, the legendary Major Skorzeny of the German SS freed Mussolini in one of the most daring commando operations of the Second World War.

Still a thriving ski resort, the fact that there are only four, rather short pistes, is compensated for by its proximity to Rome, the savage beauty of the mountain scenery, and by the tangible aura of legend and history connected to Mussolini's imprisonment and escape.

The Albergo, a luxury hotel in its day, was completely restored a few years ago in the original style. In the vast dining- room, with its curved windows overlooking the valley below, the parquet floor with boards radiating out from the main door has been carefully re-laid. Enormous murals of stony, muscular athletes have been painstakingly restored. The small bedrooms, also in a radial pattern along a semicircular corridor, have been refurbished in the original, wood-panelled style. And should one forget the local history for even a moment, there are framed black-and-white photographs of skiers from the 1930s on the walls, elegantly perched on bar stools or eating in the dining-room.

There are also photographs taken by the Germans – a slightly baffled-looking Duce, grinning weakly under a hat and greatcoat surrounded by German paratroopers. The Germans landed on the plateau with one light aircraft (a Storch), and several gliders. The gliders were abandoned and the soldiers, who had not needed to fire a shot at the Italian soldiers supposedly guarding the Duce, made their way down on foot. The Storch took Mussolini away and he was then transferred to a larger plane and flown to Germany.

Today, looking at the hillocks and inclines of Campo Imperatore, it seems incredible that anyone even contemplated landing and taking off there. The Albergo is keen to make the most of its historical cachet. There are postcards of Mussolini and Skorzeny on sale, and guests are asked if they wish to see the three simple rooms in which the deposed dictator lived. Sometimes, older visitors, embittered by wartime experiences, walk in and mutter insults and curses at the empty bed. Others kneel by the bed and pray, or burst into tears in paroxysms of Fascist nostalgia. There is even a rumour going round that a natural son of Mussolini (and one of the hotel's maids) still lives in the area...

In spite of its period luxury and uniqueness, the Albergo (00 39 08 62 40 00 00) is surprisingly cheap, since it is supported as a historical landmark by the local authorities. A double room costs €70 (£43.75) for two people on a B&B basis