リビア古来の穴居住居　観光スポットとして復活に期待

【ガリヤンＡＦＰ＝時事】リビア北西部の町ガリヤンには、何世紀も前に掘られたユニークな岩窟住居群がある。多くは廃虚となったまま放置されてきたが、住民らの間で観光スポットとして復活させようとの動きがある。（写真はリビア北西部ガリヤンにあるナフサ山脈の中腹に造られた穴居住居）
　首都トリポリの南方約１００キロ、ベルベル人とアラブ人が混住するガリヤンで最古の住居の一つに住む、アルビ・ベルハジさんは「祖父よりも何世代もさかのぼる先祖が、３５５年前にここを掘ったのです」と語った。
　海抜約７００メートル、ナフサ山脈の中腹に深く掘られたベルハジさんの家。気温４５度にも達する灼熱（しゃくねつ）の夏からも、雪の多い冬からもしっかり守られてきたのだろう。
　「ダモース」と呼ばれる穴居住宅が何世紀も崩れずに残っているのは、この地域の土壌に粘性があるからだ。
　１９６７年生まれのベルハジさんは、この岩窟住居で誕生した最後の一人だ。一家は１９９０年に引っ越したが、現在は観光スポットとして改装し、よみがえらせようとしている。
　２０１１年に故ムアマル・カダフィ大佐による独裁政権が崩壊して以降、リビア全体の観光客は減っているが、この地域のベルベル人の村々は今でも国内旅行で人気が高い。ベルハジさんは、いずれは国外からの観光客も誘致できると期待している。
　歴史学者のユセフ・ハタリ氏によると、一部の岩窟住居は２３００年以上前にさかのぼるものだ。またフェニキア人が栄えた時代の埋葬地もあるという。
　「初めは人間と家畜のための地下住居があり、それから礼拝場所として建物が造られました」とハタリ氏。「山の数か所にはとりでの跡と分かるものがあります。見張り塔の跡などです」
　ハタリ氏は、岩窟住居は「多目的に使えるように設計されており、時の試練にも耐えています」と説明する。「だからリビアの建築史上、極めて重要なのです」【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/05/09-09:33）

Gharyan's unique underground houses were hewn into the mountainside centuries ago, and many lie abandoned, but residents of the Libyan town are hoping tourism can help restore their heritage.
My great-great-great-great-great-grandfather dug this yard 355 years ago, said Al-Arbi Belhaj, who owns one of the oldest houses in the mixed Berber-Arab town south of Tripoli.
His ancestor would have used a tajouk pickaxe to chip away at the ground before loading the rubble into a woven date-palm gouffa basket to carry it away, he said.
Dug deep into the arid Nafusa mountains at around 700 metres (2,300 feet) above sea level, the home would have been protected against the scorching summers that bring temperatures up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
It would have also stayed warm throughout the often snowy winters.
The region's bedrock has a consistency that allowed the underground dwelling -- known as a damous -- to last for centuries without collapsing.
Some of the buildings are over 2,300 years old, and ancient Greek historians mentioned their existence, according to historian Youssef al-Khattali.
The area also has burial sites dating back to Phoenician times, he added.
Today, Belhaj says he is the owner of the oldest underground home in Gharyan, a town where many residents have family records and property deeds dating back centuries.
The warren of rooms dug into the rock around the courtyard once housed as many as eight large families, he said.
He was the last person to be born there, in 1967.
In 1990, like many people seeking more comfortable dwellings with running water and electricity, the family moved out of the home, but they kept ownership of it.
Now, Belhaj has renovated it and turned it into a tourist attraction.
- 'Designed to be versatile' -
While late dictator Moamer Kadhafi allowed tourists to visit the country on organised trips, visitors have been thin on the ground since his fall in a 2011 revolt, which sparked a decade of chaos.
But the region's Berber villages have continued to attract domestic tourists, and Belhaj is hoping that a return to relative stability could open the door to more visitors from Europe and elsewhere.
He charges an entry fee equivalent to a dollar for Libyans, or two for foreigners.
While some come for a cup of tea and to explore the building, others stay for lunch or spend the entire day there.
Damous structures were once common across a stretch of western Libya and eastern Tunisia -- the other side of a border only drawn up in 1886.
The same tribes extend from Nalut to Gabes, said historian Khattali, referring to towns on the Libyan and Tunisian sides.
Their sites were carefully chosen and the buildings painstakingly excavated by hand to avoid them collapsing in the process.
In 1936, they attracted the attention of colonial power Italy, featuring in a tourist guide.
And they were not just used as homes.
First of all, there were underground dwellings for humans and their animals, then buildings intended as places of worship, Khattali said, referring to synagogues and churches that were mostly later converted to mosques.
Some were also used as defences, he said.
You can still make out the traces of fortifications in certain parts of the mountain, including the remains of watchtowers.
The buildings were designed to be versatile, and they've stood the test of time, Khattali said.
That's why they're so important in the history of Libyan architecture.