Impressive cave villages
Matmata is the main town in the mountainous region of the same name and an important stop on every round trip. At first you only see the main street and a few stone houses in the middle of a hilly lunar landscape with scattered white marabouts. Only on closer inspection do you see evenly round craters in the midst of small mounds of earth - the caves or troglodytes of the Berber families. From above one looks into a shaft-like inner courtyard, from which several rooms lead off and in the middle of which there is a cistern. A long tunnel leads outside, the entrance is usually beautifully walled.
Large families sometimes live in the caves, each married son has his own room, there is also a kitchen and pantries. The furnishings are surprisingly cozy, and the furniture made of brushwood, which has become rare today and which is covered with plaster and whitewashed, is a specialty. Initially unimaginable, living in such a cave is extremely pleasant, as the clay walls keep you warm in winter and insulate well against the heat in summer. The cost of building such an apartment is zero if you disregard the work. Unfortunately, numerous cave dwellings are already affected by the decay, as their maintenance is difficult due to the high costs.
