The Cave Houses of Guadix: Beautiful Houses Underground

Last year I went to the southern province of Almeria and, while I was there, I took a tour to Guadix. Guadix is a relatively small city inland from Almeria city, and is famous for its cave houses. These cave houses are up in the hills and are in, what they call, the Troglodyte Quarter (Barrio Troglodyte) of the city. Hundreds of people still live in these cave houses and British and American tourists have even bought them as holiday homes.

The cave houses have been built in Guadix for over a thousand years. They were hollowed out of the rock and then a wall would be built at the front of the cave to enclose it. The wall would have a door and several windows. This part of Spain is very hot during the day but can get cooler at night. The cave houses were perfect for this climate as they kept cool during the day, but were warm at night. They were very popular for hundreds of years until the 20^th century, when many people decided to move out to more modern houses. However, as the tourist industry started to grow in this region of Spain, Guadix' cave houses became popular again as they were a great way to make some extra money. Some of the people who own them have opened them up to make small hostels. Others accept donations after they have let you tour their house.

Most of these cave houses however are not what you would expect. Their owners are not living back in the Stone Age, carrying water and making fires from branches they collect in the woods. Instead, the Guadix cave houses have most of the modern conveniences of any 21^st century house. We toured several of them and saw ones with marble floors, fully fitted kitchens and bathrooms, cable TV and internet. Some of them even have 4 or 5 bedrooms, so a couple of rooms can be rented out to visiting tourists.