27 May – Levon’s Divine Underground

Good morning, good afternoon and good evening readers,

In my second week of being here I decided to google “strange things to do in Armenia”. As my favourite girl band used to sing, you’ve gotta spice up ya life. I came across Levon’s Divine Underground and was certain that I would visit there at least once. It is quite possibly one of the most outstanding pieces of craftsmanship that I have seen completed by one person.

Lemme give you a little back story:
When Levon was living in Russia he had begun to hear voices. When he returned to Armenia, his wife asked him to build a potato cellar in the house. After his wife made this request the voices return and said “Levon, you are going to make some crazy network of cellars on your own and it is going to be the bees knees”. Well not exactly that, they probably spoke in Armenian. So naturally, Levon listened to these voices and did what was asked of him. After twenty three years of eighteen hour days Levon created his masterpiece. His granddaughter showed us through the tunnels and explained the reaction from the neighbours. Boy did his neighbours talk. “What are you doing Levon? Why are you wasting your time on this? Get a job Levon.” He had actually quit his job to complete this project and the neighbours had a lot to say about this. We have all heard that noise my man. But throughout all of this Levon still pursued with his dream and to this day his family are extremely proud of his achievement. Levon’s Underground Utopia cannot be described by words. Words cannot even scratch the surface of what he has accomplished. If you are ever in Armenia, please make the effort to visit the Underground. It can be found in Arinj, just a stone’s throw away from Yerevan.

Levon marked the ending of his project with a cross, as the voices had told him to do so. In 2008 he passed away and as much as his wife loves the vision that he created, she said she would trade them in to have him home for even just an hour.

You will never read this Levon, but you should now how inspiring it is to see someone continue on their path even when overwhelmed with the negative opinions of others. If Levon’s Divine Underground isn’t a physical metaphor for pursuing your dreams, then I don’t know what is. Thank you Levon, and thank you to your family for opening this up to the public.