Photos
Matmata
Matmata in short - Key Attractions
- Interesting Berber Houses
- Marvellous desert landscapes
- Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies were filmed in Matmata
About Matmata
We visited Matmata on our way to the Sahara Desert during an organised excursion - presumably in a similar way a majority of European tourists visit this picturesque town. Matmata is located approximately 40 km from Gabes and due to its location - on the way to the Sahara - it recently has become an obligatory stop on the packaged excursions to the desert. It became even more famous as scenes of Star Wars and Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark) movies where shot here.
The following assessment of Matmata is based upon our own experience and therefore description given here necessarily contains an element of subjective opinion which may not reflect your own experience on another occasion.
The Berber Houses
In our view main attraction of Matmata are Berber (indigenous nomadic people of North Africa) houses located along both sides of C107 road (see the map) and very picturesque landscapes of surrounding mountains and the Matmata Valley. The Berber houses are open for visitors and you can visit them free of charge. However, the owners would appreciate if you could spare a couple of dinars for the visit.
Traditional Berber pit-houses show a perfect solution to the difficult problem of adapting the zone’s extremely warm climate - the best defence against summer heat.
According to historians the Matmata Berbers built their underground homes to escape the notice of their enemies and to protect themselves from Arab incursions. Underground houses were also very practical from construction point of view. It was easier to dig into the mountains’ soft cohesive sandstone rather then use it as a building material.
The pits are circular and around 30 feet (9 metres) in both debt and diameter. An open air entrance starts some distance away to allow gentle slope through the side of the hill. Above the entrance you may find painted in blue symbols of fish, star and a hand of Fatima which may protect inhabitants from bad luck. The fish is a good luck charm and the hand and five fingers represent the five pillars of Islam. Houses have an open air courtyard (haush) which is surrounded radially by the 20 feet long rooms. In the summer the temperature inside the house can be around 30 degrees cooler than in the midday heat above the ground level.
Nowadays some of those Berber dwellings have been adapted as hotels so if you stay in Matmata for day or two you can spend a night there and try a real Berber’s way of life.
Published on 1st January 2010
By Arek Zasowski
Photographs by Viola and Arek Zasowski
Few points worth considering
If you like photography and the feeling of being independent and flexible you should consider hiring a car to explore this beautiful country. In Tunisia it is not difficult to hire a 4x4 with a driver from your local travel office so you do not have to worry about being lost on the desert or stuck in the middle of nowhere. Tunisians are usually very warm and friendly towards tourists and will be happy to drive you through their picturesque country and for a couple of dinars will tell you plenty of interesting stories. This way of travelling is obviously a bit more expensive than travelling with the group of tourists; however, it offers a great deal of flexibility. You will feel more adventurous and will visit much more places.
If you decide to visit Matmata during an organised excursion you should consider that the bus does not stop often i.e. anytime you see some interesting place to take a photo. You will also be restricted to and will explore pre-selected places - not always the most interesting ones.
