Tunisia

The troglodyte homes of Matmata

In Matmata, some Berber residents still live in traditional underground troglodyte homes. The Hotel Sidi Driss served in 1976 as Luke Skywalker’s home in the first Star Wars film.

Troglodyte homes dug into the rock at Matmata
Robert Linsdell from St. Andrews, Canada · CC BY 2.0

Key facts

Before you go.

Starting point
Gabès, 40 km north-east: louages and 8 buses a dayMatmata (Wikivoyage)

Good to know

Three things to remember.

Plan the trip

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Sources · 2 pages consulted, with the exact sentence used
  1. Matmata, Tunisia (Wikipedia)
    Some of the local Berber residents live in traditional underground "troglodyte" structures. […] intensive rains that lasted for 22 days inundated the troglodyte homes and caused many of them to collapse. […] most of the people continued their lives in re-built underground homes […] The Hotel Sidi Idriss in Matmata was used in 1976 as a filming location in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, in which it was featured as the home of Luke Skywalker […] (coordinates 33.54264, 9.96681)
  2. Matmata (Wikivoyage)
    There are regular daytime services by louage (shared taxi) or bus (8 daily) from Gabes (40 km north-east). It's a 1-hour drive from Medenine across mountain roads, passing the historic town of Toujene. […] Hotel Sidi Driss. Scenes from the Lars homestead in Star Wars were filmed here.

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