THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD:

Few have been granted permission to see these marvels.

Indeed, the Italian government was not even aware of their existence until a few years ago.

But the ‘Temples of Damanhur’ are not the great legacy of some long-lost civilisation, they are the work of a 57-year-old former insurance broker from northern Italy who, inspired by a childhood vision, began digging into the rock.

(Via Brian Micklethwait, who comments: “This reminds me of that thing about how if you owe the bank very little it’s your problem but if you owe them a lot it’s theirs. In this case, if you want retrospective planning permission for a patio extension, you lose. But, if you want it for several miles of ornately decorated underground caves illuminated with fabulous stained glass windows, no problemo.”)