Tunisia: The troglodyte dwellings of Matmata The Berber village Matmata in southern Tunisia is famous for its quaint underground houses and cave dwellings, which are pleasantly cool in summer and comfortably warm in winter. Ahlem, four, climbs up a wall to reach her rabbit's hideaway at her troglodyte house on the outskirts of Matmata A general view of troglodyte houses in Matmata, a Berber village in southern Tunisia Saliha Mohamedi, 36, sits with her children at their troglodyte house on the outskirts of Matmata, Tunisia. "I don't want to leave my house, it would be as if I was throwing my life and my traditions away," she says Mustapha, a 54-year-old farmer, sits in the corridor of his family's troglodyte house which has been converted to a warehouse Aicha, 64, lays olives out to dry on the outskirts of the Tunisian village of Matmata Tayeb, 76, sits inside his troglodyte home in Matmata, Tunisia. "Our home was open for tourists to visit, but now with the lack of tourists we don't earn anything. I don't want to leave my house, it's where I grew up," says Tayeb Mounjia, 60, weaves a carpet at her troglodyte home in Matmata. "I don't want to leave my troglodyte house for a modern one, we could buy everything but not the peace of mind," says Mounjia Saliha Mohamedi, 36, looks out from the kitchen of her troglodyte house on the outskirts of Matmata, Tunisia Samar, 18, and Latifa Ben Yahia, 38, (C) shell peas as their brother watches television at their troglodyte house on the outskirts of Matmata Mounjia, 60, poses for photographs in the kitchen of her troglodyte house in Matmata Latifa Ben Yahia, 38, prepares vegetables to cook in the kitchen of her troglodyte house in Matmata, Tunisia Saliha Mohamedi, 36, grinds wheat at her troglodyte house on the outskirts of Matmata, Tunisia