In 1985, when Levon Arakelyan was 44 year old, his wife asked him to dig a potato storage pit under their home in Armenia.

He completed her request, however after he finished working, he simply could not stop himself from chiselling. He kept it every single day, for 18 hours a day, for an entire 23 years.

His impressive underground complex covers an area of an impressive 280 square meters and reaches up to 20 meters underground. It’s got 7 rooms which are all connected through corridors and staircases, carved from sheer rock.

The walls are artistically decorated with mosaics, sculptures, carvings and even an altar. It’s pretty hard to believe that everything was made by hand, with just a chisel and hammer.

Levon’s wife, Toysa reveals that he would sleep only 3-4 hours per night, and put his entire heart and soul into it.  He pulled out an approximate 450 truckloads of rubble using only a metal bucket.

He worked on it until the day in died in 2008 at the age of 67 from a heart attack, however his wife believes that the lack of rest and hard work is what killed him.

Toysa, although she greatly misses her husband, feels a strong sense of pride every time she goes down into the cave.