Matmâta

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For the New Zealand town, see Matamata

The Hotel Sidi Driss, a traditional Berber troglodyte underground building in the village of Matmata, Tunisia. The hotel served as the home of Luke Skywalker on the planet Tatooine in the Star Wars movies. Note the remainining set pieces incorporated into the walls.

Matmâta (also spelled Matamata) is a small village in southern Tunisia. Some of the local Berber residents live in traditional underground structures. These structures are created by digging a large pit in the ground. Around the perimeter of this pit are artificial caves used as rooms. Some homes are comprised of multiple pits, connected by trench-like passageways. This type of home was made famous by serving as the location of the Lars Homestead, home to Luke Skywalker, his Aunt Beru Lars and Uncle Owen Lars for the Star Wars movies. The Lars Homestead was in fact the Hotel Sidi Driss, which offers traditional troglodyte accommodations.

It was not known until 1967. that there were regular settlements in this area, besides nomad tribes, wandering arond the area. That year, intensive rains, that lasted for 22 days, caused troglodyte homes to get soaked with water and to collapse. In order to get help from the authorities, a delegation was sent to the town of Gabes, the community center of the region. Their visit was the utmost surprise, but the help was provided and the very new settlement of Matmata was built. However, most of the people continued their lives in re-built underground homes, and only few of the families moved to the regular houses, built in new settlement.

The history of this extraordinary place is not known, except from tales, carried from generation to generation. The most probable tale says that underground homes were first built in ancient times, when Roman empire sent two Egyptian tribes to make their own homes in Matmata region, after one of Punic wars, with permission to kill every human being in their way. The dwellers of the region had to leave their homes and to dig caves in the ground, to hide from those invaders, but they were also leaving their underground shelters in the night, to attack invaders, which appeared to be very effective act in sending killer groups away from Matmata. A myth was made those days, that monsters emerge from beneath the ground and kill land usurpers. Anyway, the underground settlements remained hidden in very hostile area for centuries, and noone had any knowledge of their existence, until 1967.

The way of survival in that severe conditions is the most surprising: since Tunisia is famous for massive olive oil production, the males went for job search every spring, when the olive season began, moving northward, and getting back home in autumn, when the season was over. They were paid in olive oil, which they traded for other goods (in present days for money), and thus provided enough food, clothes and other things for normal life of their families.

Today, Matmata is well-known touristic attraction, and the most of the population lives on tourism and folklore exibitions in their homes.