As soon as the meeting ended, two Damanhurians began chipping away at the rock of the mountain with only a hammer and a pick. They continued digging with great fervor all night. When in the morning others came to carry on with the work, over a meter had already been excavated inside the mountain. They continued non-stop in shifts of four hours each, for fifteen days, before the pace became less intense, although work never stopped. Pick, shovel, buckets, pick, shovel, buckets, chisel, hammer, buckets…

The Damanhurians felt enthusiastic of sharing a common activity which was also carried out in total secrecy. A permission to excavate would have never been granted by the local government, as Piedmont had no laws regulating underground buildings of that magnitude, and the project would have seemed too ambitious to carry out. The secret was kept for sixteen years.