Madmata is small town
#holiday #story #destination
located in the southern-part of Tunisia, North Africa
The city is known as the place of the Berber tribes
who live a traditional life by living in-cave
unlike most underground dwellings
The houses in Madmata were not built on the mountainous side
rather by digging a circular hole in the ground
which then the edge of the hole is dug to form several rooms
Although it looks cramped, each house in Madmata has at least 6 rooms
which functions as a bedroom, family room, kitchen, and warehouse
As for the big open hole or also called the main hole
Functions as a home page that sometimes links to other pages
Through a narrow moat-like passage that forms an underground labyrinth
To meet the clean water needs of the Berber tribe only rely on rainwater
When it rains they will direct rainwater into the well
by using simple filters
when they want to take water for consumption
Usually they will use cloth as a filter
thus making the water cleaner
In addition to houses, Berber tribes also have distinctive clothes made of cotton
This outfit consists of long-sleeved underwear and patterned fabric
For the outside where this shirt can protect the Berber tribe from extreme weather in Madmata
In addition, they also have a typical food of a typical Madmata wheat bread
which are all sourced from their own yards
Madmata and several similar cities in Tunisia are indeed located on fairly soft sandstone boulders
to be excavated with traditional tools but sturdy enough to be inhabited for centuries
even the Barbarians had dug houses in the ground in this way
for more than 1,000 years Tunisia has often been described as a region synonymous with deserts
It has a very hot temperature because of it the people in this region
Build cave houses to lower the heat
and make the air in the room cooler when the temperature outside is hot
The temperature inside the house will feel cool and vice versa
But more than just avoiding hot temperatures are the reason for keeping a house in-ground
It has a fairly long history of the Madmata Plateau
is the only land link between Libya and Tunisia
For hundreds of years this area has been controlled by colonists
which forced the Berbers to retreat to the highlands
where they began to dig houses in-mountains
Later, as relations with the Arabs became more friendly, the Berbers began to feel more secure
So that more and more families come back down to develop the village
and houses on low mountain slopes and then on plains
Currently, the underground cave settlement in Madmata is the main tourist attraction that invites tourists
one of the attractions is the CD Dris underground hotel that became the filming location of the Star Wars movies
Although part of the population has decided to abandon this kind of way of life
But many of them also decided to stay in the underground houses they had built
They work in-farm olives and sometimes receive tips from tourists who want to visit their homes
But unfortunately today only a handful of men still know how to dig and maintain a dwelling for this Berber tribe