:: Destinations

Matmata

Matmata is the tourist hot spot of Tunisia. it is a small village, 400 km (250 miles)  south of Tunis on the south eastern coast. The pit houses of this troglodyte settlement and the fact that it was here that major part of ‘Star Wars’ was filmed that keep the tourist buses relentlessly coming to Matmata. Usually the buses reach here in the morning and they don’t leave till late in the afternoon. Matmata is also the take off point for the desert safaris. So, it is their turn in the evenings. Those groups stay overnight and leave for the deserts in the morning.

The people of Matmata are not very happy with the massive turn out of the tourists. But then it keeps their economy going.

Why Matmata has become a busy tourist spot is mot very difficult to understand. There's something almost surreal about the place, with its vaguely lunar landscape. No doubt this is why it was selected as the location for the desert scenes in the movie Star Wars. The Berbers of the area went underground more than a thousand years ago to escape the extreme heat of summer. Their homes are all nearly identical, with a courtyard dug about 6m (20ft) deep and the rooms tunneled out from the sides. The larger houses have two or three courtyards, and their entrances are usually through a narrow passage from the courtyard to the surface.

There are guides available to take you round. But if you want to see Matmata by yourself, your best bet is to visit the hotels. Hôtel Ksar Amazigh, Hôtel Sidi Driss, Hôtel les Berberes and Hôtel Marhala are the places to be checked out. Arrive in the late afternoon, after the tour buses have left, and go for a walk out beyond the Hôtel Ksar Amazigh. There are good views back over Matmata and north to the valley of the Oued Barrak. Back in town, quench your thirst with a cold one at the Hôtel Sidi Driss' bar (famous as the 'cantina' in Star Wars), then have a quick poke around the Hôtel les Berberes and the Hôtel Marhala, and you will have seen everything worth seeing in town.