Last residents hold on in Tunisia's underground houses

A general view of troglodyte houses in Matmata, Tunisia, February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra

MATMATA, Tunisia (Reuters) - In the arid valleys of southern Tunisia's Djebel Dahar region, people have lived for centuries in underground houses whose earthen casing provides protection against searing summer heat and winter winds.

But in recent decades, rural depopulation has meant fewer people live in the homes, which are composed of rooms hewn into the walls of an excavated circular courtyard. The few remaining families say they are attached to the homes and the land or see no way of moving.