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Daily Mail, UKJune 22 2018 Now THAT'S a man cave! Inside the 65ft-deep underground world dug out by a builder over 23 YEARS... using just a chisel and hammerLevon Arakelyan, who was a builder by profession, spent 23 years crafting the 280-square-metre caveToday the hand-crafted cellar in the village of Arinj in Armenia is open as a museum New Zealand-based photographer Amos Chapple recently journeyed to the attraction to shed some light on it By Sadie Whitelocks for MailOnline Published: 03:09 EDT, 22 June 2018 These fascinating photos show how one man painstakingly created a jaw-dropping basement under his house, using just a hammer and chisel. Builder Levon Arakelyan spent 23 years crafting the incredible 65ft-deep, 3,000-square-foot subterranean space and he was even working on the project on the day he died in 2008, aged 67. He began working on it after his wife, Tosya, asked for a cool space for her potatoes. He got carried away. Today the hand-crafted cellar network in the village of Arinj in Armenia is open as a museum and New Zealand-based Radio Free Europe photographer Amos Chapple recently journeyed to the attraction to shed some light on it. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/21/15/4D7C854C00000578-5870117-image-a-95_1529592084162.jpg These fascinating photos show how one man painstakingly created a jaw-dropping basement under his house, armed with just a hammer and chisel Mr Chapple said he decided to visit the unique basement after reading an article about it online. Apparently Tosya no longer ventures into the cavern as she's scared of having a fall, so the cameraman went down there alone. Describing the cave, he told MailOnline Travel: 'I went and scouted the place out with the lights on. I then went back up and asked Tosya to switch all the lights off and I would work down there alone to take photographs. http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/21/15/4D7C880C00000578-5870117-image-a-96_1529592095960.jpgToday the hand-crafted cellar in the village of Arinj in Armenia is open as a museum and New Zealand-based Radio Free Europe photographer Amos Chapple recently journeyed to the attraction to shed some light on it http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/22/16/4D7C85D900000578-5870117-Over_the_years_Levon_continued_to_burrow_65_feet_down_adding_int-a-120_1529681674185.jpg Over the years Levon continued to burrow 65 feet down, adding intricate detailing to the cave-like space http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/21/15/4D7C896100000578-5870117-image-a-104_1529592148324.jpgSome of the tunnels feature grand doorways, with Romanesque columns carved into the stone and there are perfectly angled stairs chipped into the rock 'So being down there in the darkness was amazing - there was utter silence and darkness, and it was easy to get lost. 'At first though I was a little nervous - Armenia is earthquake-prone and in the deeper caverns the rock crumbled under my fingernails. 'I tried to banish the thought of a collapse from my mind and just concentrate on photographing.' http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/newpix/2018/06/21/15/4D7C852400000578-5870117-image-a-129_1529592545709.jpg Levon would often spend 18 hours a day underground only emerging for a few hours to sleep before starting again. His wife Tosya (pictured right) now opens the quirky basement to visitors The walls of the cave feature a mix of hard and soft volcanic rock and the temperature remains around 10 degrees Celsius all-year round. Asked what the most interesting feature of the cave is, Mr Chapple said: 'It was impossible to photograph well, but there's a kind of portal above ground at the very top that runs down through all the levels. 'You can stand in this back room of the house and look all the way down to the bottom level some 65 feet below you.'