The Matmata Pit Dwellings Keeping The Tunisian Indigenous Past Alive

Today, some families are stubbornly clinging to their unique cultural heritage and still live in their underground households, working their olive farms and baking Tabouna bread. Most of them sustain themselves by occasionally accepting tips from tourists who want to visit their homes; selling jars of distinctive rosemary-flavored honey with oil, and original Oudref rugs to visitors.

“These homes serve as a link to an ancient past of the land. It is not folklore, but culture”Tourism has proved to be a mixed experience for Matmata, forever changing the local way of life. While it has helped the economy, the pilgrimage, alongside the country’s drive for modernity and insistence on Arabization, threatens the future of the original troglodytes, which are being progressively altered in favour of modern structures. The cave houses are on the verge of disappearing. “Only a few men still know how to dig and maintain these dwellings. Together with Berber language, dress, and costumes, these homes serve as a link to an ancient past of the land. It is not folklore, but culture. The Berber way of life should be preserved, while its culture shown to the world,” Belhedi concludes.