In the small town of Matmate in the south of Tunisia, some of the local residents live in semi-underground dwellings in the form of deep dugouts dug in the local solid ground. Artificial caves were then dug around each dugout, which served as rooms and were connected by ditch corridors.
One such home in Matmata gained fame after being featured in Star Wars as the home of Luke Skywalker.
1. According to local legends, semi-underground houses were first built in these places in the Roman era, when the Romans sent two Egyptian tribes to this region with the right to settle here and kill anyone they met on the way. Local residents had to leave their habitats and dig caves to hide from the invaders, but at night they left their homes to attack foreigners.
2. The main disadvantage of such housing is the lack of a roof, and crowds of tourists will constantly stare at you from above. Although the locals make money from it.
3. Inside - minimalism style.
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Living conditions in Matmata were harsh at that time. As Tunisia is known for its large-scale olive oil production, every spring, when the olive season began, the men from Matmata went north in search of work and returned in the fall at the end of the season.
4. The most real murka.
5. Matmata was not known until 1967, when heavy rains lasting 22 days flooded the adobe houses of the Aboriginal people, many of them began to collapse. The community sent a delegation to the regional administration in the city of Gabes asking for help. Help, despite the unexpectedness of the request, was provided, and above-ground dwellings were built in Matmata. Despite this, many of Matmata's residents continue to live in converted underground homes, and few have moved to new dwellings on the surface.
6. Some people living in underground houses in Tunisia would like to move into modern buildings, but they have no money.
7. Life here is completely uncomplicated.
8. Stone millstones for wheat.
9. Kitchen set. Residents of this house say that they have money to buy a modern home, but they don't want to. It's quieter here.
10. There is, of course, no running water in underground houses. You need to go to the well.
11. Today Matmata is a well-known tourist attraction and the majority of the population earn money from the tourism business or from folklore exhibitions in their homes.
12. One of the houses in Matmata became famous after being filmed in Star Wars as Luke Skywalker's home, the Sidi Driss Hotel, where tourists are accommodated in traditional local-style lodgings.
13. Carpet weavers live here.
14. Local old-timers.
15. House with solar panels.
An aerial view of the underground troglodyte homes in Matmata, Tunisia, 6 February 2018.