Africa,  History,  Photography,  Travel Blog

Going Underground: Matmata

May 10, 2022 /

As soon as we heard that some former troglodyte homes beneath the ground had been converted into a place where you can stay the night, we knew we had to do it. The temptation of spending a night in one of these most unusual cave dwellings was just too much to resist, especially when our route south and west was taking us close to their very location.

Desert landscape, Matmata

An entire population of troglodyte people lived in and around what is now Matmata, in man made cave dwellings constructed in intriguing fashion. Some of these cave dwellings were simply hewn into the rock, often behind tight entrances between tall natural pillars, but others, like the one where we’re spending this unusual night, were created differently.

Troglodyte house
Mouth of the pit
Troglodyte house

Basically, the troglodytes dug a large pit in a suitable piece of raised ground, and then created an entrance tunnel through the rock into the area of the pit. From the central pit area, rooms and houses were constructed by digging into the sandstone sides of the pit, creating the caves and then sealing the walls and roof with lime. Just a few, like ours, have now been converted into homestays.

Troglodyte house

The story of the troglodytes, Berbers by origin, has a couple of fascinating twists. Until 1969, little or nothing was known of their existence and these lands were thought to be occupied by no one other than nomadic tribes with herds of goats and sheep. But that year – 1969 – brought unprecedented weather when heavy rain, so rare in these parts, fell unabated for 22 days and nights, causing catastrophic damage to cave homes through flooding and, in some cases, collapse.

In desperate need of help, a delegation left for Gabes to seek assistance from the authorities, who until the arrival of that delegation had no knowledge of these peoples’ existence. Struck by the plight of this previously unknown race, funds from the Governorate were provided in order to construct permanent homes and create the village of Matmata itself, though many of the troglodytes declined to move and chose to rebuild their own cave dwellings in the rocks. And then comes another astonishing twist, in the shape of the movie industry.

Now, I don’t know the correct word for the opposite of a “film buff”, but whatever the word is, then I am one. Apart from a small number of movies watched with my children in their younger years, I’ve never got into watching and have only ever seen a mere handful. I think I always thought I’d get round to it when I grew up. Michaela is a much more experienced watcher but is not what you would call a fanatic.

Anyway, back to the troglodytes. One of the cave house locations, not the one we’re in but one right in Matmata itself, was used extensively during the filming of Star Wars, and over the years has become a popular tourist attraction, though according to the very friendly proprietor, most visitors come and go on day trips rather than spend the night there (which you can)…….

That particular cave house, named Sidi Idris, was apparently Luke Skywalker’s family home, the Lars homestead, on the planet Tatooine, just one of many locations in Tunisia used in the Star Wars series. It’s not altogether surprising that this other worldly landscape was used to represent a different planet, you wouldn’t need to change much to make it convincing. Nowadays the dwelling itself shamelessly but understandably milks the Star Wars theme, yet the surrounding village is surprisingly gimmick free and you could conceivably miss the connection – maybe the effect of two years of precious few tourists.

Matmata village

Our own cave house is a few kilometres east of Matmata in the hamlet of Tijma, where the more we study the view, the more we can see that the landscape is peppered with cave entrances, evidence of so many more former troglodyte homes. Wandering around the arid surroundings, we are struck by the absolute tranquility; now and again a car passes by on the nearby road but between vehicles there are just bird calls and silence – the kind of silence which is almost a sound in its own right.

Our homestay

We perch on a hillock for a while, just listening to the silence and studying this dusty, unyielding land. As we gaze at the sun slowly creeping below the mountains which fade into the dusk, we are struck by a sense of timelessness: Berber shepherds have watched the sun go down over this unchanging landscape in just the same way for centuries.

Our neighbourhood

Like so many we people we meet on our travels currently, the cafe owner in Matmata speaks eloquently about the devastating effects of the pandemic on livelihoods, detailing not just the lack of income but also the exodus of workers previously employed in tourism. 

Tamezret, Berber village
Tamezret, Berber village

“They’ve all gone home, there is nothing here now”, he says, sadly. “Three years ago life was good, now it’s so hard”.

He also tells us there has been no significant rain in Matmata through the whole 2-year pandemic period, which doesn’t make life any easier either. Next day, as we wake from a surprisingly good night’s sleep in our cave home and peer out into the daylight….it’s raining.

The French-Tunisian couple sharing our homestay laugh at our expense over breakfast.

“You English, you even bring your English weather to the desert!”

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