The Last Families Living in Tunisia's Underground Houses

Alan Taylor
February 27, 2018
20 Photos
In Focus

Reuters photographer Zohra Bensemra recently spent time in southern Tunisia's Djebel Dahar region, where locals have lived in underground homes for centuries. The cave houses, also known as troglodyte houses, offer protection against the extremes of summer and winter in the arid desert. A cluster of these crater-like homes can be seen in the village of Haddej on Google Maps. Most of theses cave homes can be found around Matmata, which gained fame as a filming location for Luke Skywalker’s home in the 1977 movie Star Wars. Reuters reports that fewer of these underground homes are now used, with some falling into disrepair: “In recent decades, rural depopulation has meant fewer people live in the homes, which are composed of rooms hewn into the walls of an excavated circular courtyard. The few remaining families say they are attached to the homes and the land or see no way of moving.”

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Saliha Mohamedi, 36, sits with her children in their troglodyte house on the outskirts of Matmata, Tunisia, on February 4, 2018. "I don't want to leave my house; it would be as if I was throwing my life and my traditions away," Saliha said. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Al view of underground troglodyte houses in Matmata, Tunisia, on February 6, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Ahlem, four, climbs up a wall to reach her rabbit's hideaway at her cave house on the outskirts of Matmata on February 5, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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A cat sits inside a troglodyte house in Matmata on February 6, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Tunisian tourists watch as Saliha Mohamedi walks around her house in Matmata on February 4, 2018. Residents live largely off olive farming and tourism. Matmata became a popular destination after a troglodyte home converted into a hotel was used as a Star Wars set in the 1970s. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Samar, 18, and Latifa Ben Yahia, 38, (center) shell peas as their brother watches television in their underground house outside Matmata on February 3, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Mustapha, 54, a farmer, sits in the corridor of his family's troglodyte house, which was converted to a warehouse on the outskirts of Matmata, on February 4, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Saliha Mohamedi talks with her daughters after finishing her housework on February 5, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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A Berber woman and her sister ride a donkey on the outskirts of Matmata on February 4, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Mounjia, 43, leads her donkey towards her troglodyte house in Matmata on February 5, 2018. "I would like to leave for a modern house but I'm not rich enough to built one in a new city. Life in a troglodyte community is exhausting. We have to fetch water and wood; we have no electricity and can't even install a solar panel," Mounjia said. (Editor's note: The photographer clarified that this family could not install solar panels because they were unable to afford them.) #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Latifa Ben Yahia, 38, prepares vegetables to cook in the kitchen of her troglodyte house in Matmata on February 5, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Saliha Mohamedi grinds wheat in her house on February 5, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Mounjia poses for a photograph in the kitchen of her troglodyte house in Matmata on February 6, 2018. "I don't want to leave my troglodyte house for a modern one; we could buy everything but not peace of mind," Mounjia said. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Saliha Mohamedi fills a bowl from her water storage outside her house on February 5, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Mounjia serves brunch to her husband Tayeb, 76, at their troglodyte house in Matmata on February 6, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Tayeb, 76, sits inside his home on February 5, 2018. "Our home was open for tourists to visit, but now with the lack of tourists we don't earn anything. I don't want to leave my house; it's where I grew up," Tayeb said. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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A pair of shoes hangs on the wall of a troglodyte house on February 4, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Saliha Mohamedi walks outside her troglodyte house on February 4, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Mounjia weaves carpet in her home on February 6, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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Mariem, 89, sits outside of her troglodyte house on February 4, 2018. #

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

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