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A lot of communities around the world, particularly those in hot
climates, traditionally live in caves to escape the heat.
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The Berbers of Matmata, a small village in southern Tunisia, do so too.
However, unlike most underground dwellings, the homes in Matmata are not
built on the side of the mountains. Instead, they are created by digging
a large pit in the ground, and then around the sides of the pit caves
are dug to be used as rooms.
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The open pit functions as a courtyard, and are sometimes connected to
other “pit” courtyards nearby through trench-like passageways forming a
large underground maze.
Matmata and a handful of similar towns across Tunisia are situated on a
shelf of sandstone that is soft enough to excavate with hand tools, but
sturdy enough to provide homes for centuries. The Berbers have been
digging out homes in the ground this way for more than a thousand years.
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The Matmata Plateau, where these kind of dwellings are found, lies next
to a narrow corridor which is the only land path between Libya and
Tunisia.
This region has been overrun by invaders throughout history, forcing the
Berbers to retreat to the plateau where they began to dig homes high in
the mountains.
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Later, as relations with the Arab invaders grew friendlier, the Berbers
began to feel more secure, and many moved downwards and developed
villages and homes in the lowers slopes of the mountain and later on the
plains.
Today, these cave dwellings are a major tourist attraction.
Matmata has another claim to fame—it was one of the location for the
filming of Star Wars. The home of Luke Skywalker is actually an
underground hotel named Sidi Driss.
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