Matmata and Tataouine Tunisia

Matmata and Tataouine: Southern Tunisia’s Troglodyte Country

The south of Tunisia is different country from Tunis or Sousse. The landscape turns to arid limestone hills, red dust, and pale sky. Temperatures hit 45°C in summer. Most sensible travellers come in autumn or spring. The towns down here — Matmata and Tataouine, separated by about 70km — are not sophisticated tourist destinations, but they’re genuinely interesting in ways that the beach resorts further north are not.

Matmata

The Berber inhabitants of Matmata solved the problem of extreme heat the obvious way: they built downwards. Traditional troglodyte dwellings here consist of a central pit, perhaps 10 metres deep and 10 metres across, dug into the rock, with rooms carved horizontally into the pit walls. It’s cool inside even in summer, and the homes remain in use today.

Several families open their homes to visitors for a small fee, which is worthwhile. The contrast between looking up at the pale sky from inside the pit and the surrounding rooms carved from reddish rock is striking and genuinely hard to appreciate from photographs.

Hotel Sidi Driss is the most famous troglodyte hotel and the one used as Luke Skywalker’s home in the original Star Wars film (1977). It still operates as a hotel and as a basic restaurant. The film sets have been preserved in two of the main pits. It’s explicitly a tourist experience at this point, but the Star Wars connection draws a steady stream of fans, and the hotel staff are accustomed to people taking photographs of everything.

Tataouine and the Ksour

The main attraction around Tataouine is the ksour (plural of ksar) — fortified Berber granaries built from the 16th century onward, typically on hilltops or clifftops for defensive purposes. Each ksar consists of a series of small storage cells, called ghorfas, stacked in two or three stories around a central courtyard. Many are now abandoned.

Ksar Ouled Soltane, about 24km south of Tataouine, is the best-preserved and most photogenic. The golden stone ghorfas rise three to four stories around the central court, and the whole complex has been stabilised without being over-restored. Visit in late afternoon when the light is warm. There’s no admission fee but a small donation for the caretaker is customary.

Ksar Hadada, about 22km north of Tataouine, was also used in the Star Wars prequel films and has been converted into a basic hotel. It’s more commercialised than Ksar Ouled Soltane, but the ghorfa rooms available for overnight stays are an unusual experience.

Getting There

Matmata is about 45km from Gabes on the coast. Buses and shared taxis (louages) run from Gabes to Matmata, though infrequently. A rental car from Tunis or Sfax is the most flexible approach for visiting both towns in a loop. The drive from Tunis takes roughly six hours on good roads.

When to Go

October to April. Seriously — the rest of the year the heat is prohibitive for anyone planning to walk around looking at things outdoors.