Towns throughout the world strive for connection with their natural environment. Here are three which built very close relationships with local geology.

Venice may be renowned for its aquatic urban planning, but it’s not the only place making resourceful use of its surroundings. Learn about the following three settlements whose residents literally live under a rock (or two). 

1.     Setenil de las Bodegas, Spain

In Southern Spain lies Setenil de las Bodegas, a town carved into towering bluffs of rock. The rocky cliffs are remnants of a canyon gorge eroded by the river Rio Trejo and were first developed for residence by the Moors in the 12th century. They built houses directly into cave walls to provide inexpensive, temperature-regulated dwellings at minimal risk from disasters such as earthquakes or wildfire. With expansive rocky overhangs serving as natural roofing, these houses are materially efficient and easy to maintain. The three thousand inhabitants of Setenil de las Bodegas take pride in local history; the town is named after seven battles fought by Catholic Spaniards against the Moorish rulers during the Reconquista. The Moors maintained their defensive stronghold throughout six attempts but were defeated by the Catholics on the seventh.

Visitors may tour the town’s Nazari castle, an Arabian fortress dating back to the Almohad Caliphate, and the signature church of Our Lady of the Incantation. In addition, Setenil de las Bodegas offers several restaurants and bars for visitors to sample among its stony streets; dine upon the traditional local delicacy sopa cortijera, a wild asparagus soup enriched with boiled eggs and chorizo.

2.     Matmata, Tunisia

Just across the Mediterranean Sea, Berber descendants populate the town of Matmata, iconic for its traditional subterranean dwellings. Historians are uncertain about when these troglodytes first emerged; settlement may have occurred as early as the 11th century or as late as the 15th. The Berbers excavated clay from underground pits to form cool spaces within which they could evade the dry heat of the Matmata valley. Deep, circular pits were dug into the sandstone ground and hollowed out. The troglodyte spaces were subsequently dug out around the pit’s perimeter, leaving the central pit as a courtyard. Sandstone clay was soft enough to excavate by hand but would harden rapidly upon exposure to air. Such underground homes were sturdy but vulnerable to flooding; during the 1960’s Matmata were forced to evacuate due to extreme rains.

Visitors may immediately recognize Hotel Sidi Driss, the site selected by George Lucas to film Luke Skywalker’s childhood home on the planet of Tatooine, within Matmata. Hotel Sidi Driss operates to date, boasting twenty rooms, a hotel restaurant, and Star Wars decorations in homage to its movie history. 

3.     Coober Pedy, Australia

In Australia’s outback, Coober Pedy is a storied subterranean town situated at the edge of the Great Victoria Desert. The town originated from the discovery of opal reservoirs in 1916 and soon became a premier mining community. Miners moved to Coober Pedy to try their luck at burrowing for gemstones but found extreme temperatures more often than opals. To deal with the dry summer heat, which can exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit, miners started to sleep and eat in the mines. It wasn’t long before miners decided to dig out proper buildings from sandstone to reside in. Currently, Coober Pedy boasts public museums, libraries, churches, bars, a drive-in theatre and even a swimming pool,—all underground.     

But the ‘Opal Capital of the World’ has cause for another claim to fame: ‘Hollywood of the Outback.’ Coober Pedy is renowned for science fiction filmography due to its extreme environment and barren landscapes. Hardly any vegetation grows natively; Coober Pedy’s tallest tree used to be a sculpture of scrap metal before townsfolk planted seeds. Moviemakers have flocked to Coober Pedy to leverage the area’s uncanny resemblance to other planets. “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome,” “Pitch Black,” “Red Planet” and “Until the End of the World Planet” are some sci-fi films shot in Coober Pedy.

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Rohan is an engineering graduate from Brown University. He is passionate about both writing and travel, and strives to blend critical thinking with creative communication to better understand the places, problems, and people living throughout the world. Ultimately, he hopes to apply his love for learning and story-sharing skills to resolve challenges affecting justice, equity, and humanity.