Ever thought of a cave as a fashionable place to stay? Sounds incredible, but in Andalusia of Spain, well furnished caves are the hottest real estate trend right now!
The town of Guadix is situated in a valley surrounded by clay cliffs.
The Moors were the first people to dig out the soft rock of the cliffs to make dwellings in caves, during the muslim occupation of Spain which ended in 1492.
Today the area known as "Barrio Santiago" is dotted with some two thousand cave houses.
The so-called "cave district" accounts for a good square mile of the town.
Centuries later, most caves are still owned by descendants of those who built them.
The cave houses’ thick walls ensure the house is cosy in winter and cool in summer, maintaining room temperatures at 19 degrees Celsius (66.2 degrees Fahrenheit) all year long.
The chimneys are not for internal fires, but to bring fresh air to the inside of the house.
After the expulsion of the Moors, people who lived in cave houses were considered poor and gradually many families left for houses and flats in the centre of town or migrated to other regions of Spain.
But now Spain is a wealthy country many of those who left are returning to Guadix to reclaim their culture as cave dwellers.
Antonio Esposito, an owner of a cave house says that when they bought their home it needed a lot of work, but now they are happy and comfortable here.
Esposito says that there is a strong market for caves as second homes.
Abandoned caves are bought at low cost and are renovated by developers who them sell them to foreigners at a great profit.
Jan Mark arrived in Guadix from Holland twenty years ago.
He realised that the cave houses were a real resource and started a company devoted to by abandoned caves and converting them in to luxury homes.
Jan says that his business is booming and waiting lists can be measured in months.
Carmela Ortiz owns a cave house that has hardly changed its appearance in the past two centuries.
Her home was carved by an ancestor six generations before her.
Carmela’s grandson David lives with his family downtown.
David says that his goal is to be able to buy a cave and live there permanently one day.
Carmela says that people who buy caves as second homes only live in them during the summer.
Juan Manuel Gabarron is the owner and director of a local museum which recreates how the caves would have looked during the Moorish occupation.
The museum is situated in a cave built underneath the town’s Moorish fortress.
Gabarron says that the descendants of people who left the area are returning to Guadix with the intention of living in the homes that their ancestors built.
Source: AP