cave dwelling 231
For southern Italy and Sicily, troglodyte settlements and cut-rock architecture
began to decline in popularity starting sometime between the thirteenth and sixteenth
centuries. Although some people blame plague, war, or the agricultural crisis of the
fourteenth century for the decline, it is, in fact, unclear why people began to abandon
the custom of cave architecture in favor of masonry building. Moreover, in some parts
of the region cave living continued well into the early modern era, suggesting that, as
in Cappadocia, the abandonment of cave villages was a gradual process. A few cave
villages were still in use in the twentieth century, and Matera’s troglodyte district was
inhabited up until the mid-twentieth century (Caprara, 2001: 13; Navedoro, 2006: 14).
In addition, in some places troglodyte villages and cities were transformed rather than
abandoned, with masonry structures built alongside troglodyte ones. The historic
centers of Scicli, Modica, and Ragusa in Sicily still have troglodyte quarters, and exca-
vated residences can be found in Nicosia and Sperlinga as well (Messina, 2008: 31;
Giglio, 2002: 17).
More recently, in some places troglodyte dwellings have been abandoned due to
government policy. In 1835, the British government evacuated Ghar il-Kbir in Malta
for sanitary reasons (Messina, 1989: 111). In the twentieth century the Turkish
government evacuated the rupestrian village of Zelve in Cappadocia because of the
danger posed by falling structures, while the Tunisian government began resettling
troglodyte populations into new above-ground residences with electricity and run-
ning water (Bixio, Castellani, and Succhiarelli, 2002: 34; Besana and Mainetti, 2000: 5).
However, in both Malta and Tunisia a few cave residences are still inhabited today
(Messina, 1989: 114; Besana and Mainetti, 2000: 36). A law enacted in Italy in 1954
called for the construction of new housing for people living in unsanitary conditions,
which included troglodyte residences (Messina, 2008: 31; Laureano, 1993: 165).
Thus troglodyte settlements and cave living in the twentieth century came to be seen
by many as anti-modern and unhealthy, although such a view is currently being con-
tested by some.
Matera provides a good example of changing attitudes toward troglodyte living,
and the reasons behind the disappearance of cave settlements. Medieval and early
modern travelers found the city to be a beautiful, prosperous, and healthy place
(Laureano, 1993: 152–153). It continued to grow in the fifteenth and sixteenth cen-
turies, in part through new above-ground structures. The decline of the city dates to
the eighteenth century, when demographic growth led to the construction of new
houses at the expense of gardens, stables, and barns. A modern city with large admin-
istrative and religious edifices was built in the old commercial center at the top of the
city, leading to a gradual filling in of the cisterns and canals that were at the heart of
the city’s water management system. In the Fascist era, after the city was linked to a
larger aqueduct system encompassing all of Puglia, the old water-management system
was completely abandoned and the main palombaro filled in and eventually forgotten.
The lower city (“I Sassi”), cut off from the upper part over time, became over- populated
and impoverished. Storerooms, stalls, and cisterns were turned into residences, and
buildings were subdivided, with families occupying one part of what had formerly
been a larger unit. Moreover, the destruction of the water-management system meant
that the lower city lacked sufficient water supplies and became prone to flooding dur-
ing rainfall. Malaria was a widespread problem as well. By the early twentieth century,
the population of the lower city lived in extremely unsanitary conditions, and Matera