A pocket of land in the Sahara: how the Berbers fooled the sun for a thousand years (12 photos + 1 video)

Many peoples in hot countries escape the heat in caves. And the Berbers of the Tunisian village of Matmata are no exception.





But there's a catch: their dwellings are not carved into the mountain slopes, but deep in the desert.



How does it work? First, people dig a huge crater in the ground. This will be the future courtyard.





And then, around the circumference of this crater, they carve out side grotto-rooms. The result is an underground well-house.



Sometimes these craters are connected by trench-corridors. Then the entire area turns into a tangled labyrinth underfoot.



All this architecture rests on soft sandstone. It can be dug by hand, yet it holds up the vaults for centuries. The Berbers have been digging such shelters for over a thousand years.



The Matmata Plateau, where these underground villages are concentrated, lies along the only land corridor between Libya and Tunisia.



For centuries, the region was a gateway for invaders, and the Berbers were forced to retreat into the mountains, deep into the cliffs.



But when relations with the Arab conquerors calmed down, the people felt more confident.



First they descended to the lower slopes, then to the plains, but they didn't forget the old method of digging a house "upside down."



Today, this is not just a place to live, but Matmata's main tourist attraction.



And another interesting fact: Star Wars was filmed here. Luke Skywalker's cabin is actually the underground hotel Sidi Driss.