These People in Morocco Live in Cave Houses

These People in Morocco Live in Cave Houses

in the hills outside Fez lies a village that seems frozen in time here some families still live inside caves carved into the rock homes passed down through generations this story shows how people adapt even when rooted in old traditions how they blend the ancient with the modern and how they keep their identity alive in a world that changing fast today we’re driving to Bhalil to meet the people who still live in these caves to see how they’ve turned rock into home and to understand what keeps them here we just arrived in Bhalil and at first sight it looks like any other small village in Morocco but what is special here is what lies underneath the village beneath these hills are dozens of old cave dwellings some still lived in others used as storage the rocks keep the temperature stable year round which made these caves perfect homes long before modern construction but today only a few families still live entirely underground what does it say it’s a madrasa it’s to fight illiteracy illiteracy it’s also in a cave that’s very interesting class in a cave I’m just walking in the small streets now of the village and it already amazes me that I didn’t know of this before because it’s so beautiful everything is so colourful and there’s not that many people so it’s very nice to walk around here just hear a bit of the birds everywhere it says cave to be sold haha you wanna buy a house here haha this is very interesting it’s like 3 4 caves right next to each other 5 actually wow I can hear some music coming from up there let’s go check out what that is there? let’s go the music is coming from this small place but since the village is just so many small alleys it seems to be coming from everywhere haha it’s very nice look at this very beautiful view from the village wow it’s so beautiful a village stuck in medieval times yeah it really is it really is it’s also another very touristy place because most of the houses that you see here are not just for tourists there’s actual people living here so if you want to see the caves you probably need to know someone or you need to get in contact with the local guide and that’s exactly what we did oh wow that’s big inside here that’s so much bigger than it looks on the outside it even has a TV an old TV there in the back it’s huge it’s also so cool inside here it’s not warm at all like outside it’s quite warm and inside really good it’s crazy also that they fit a light in the middle also cool oh yeah wow you can see that they put like wiring all the way in here it’s like a small museum as well Oh, you can sleep here with so many people there’s so much here oh it’s immediately smells very nice in the cave here from the tea this is really one of the most unique stays I ever stayed in so we have all this house now for all the house for ourselves I I I’m overwhelmed by the choice of where I have to sleep I think I wanna sleep here it’s the most spacious here what is that they usually put they put like it needs a metal thing and they just like put a little bit of uh weed and they just smoke it so that’s what they do in the cave here it’s very cool that just someone made this cave by hand very long ago and they don’t know who that is because it’s so long ago and now the people that live here they just inherited it from their ancestors oh is this all handmade they probably make this all here oh the second tower has been hit this drink is something that every gen whatever before Gen Z or before millennials are nostalgic about it’s called la cigogne and like they always are like oh the bottles back then were made out of glass I’m like this crap now and it tasted so good and everyone is like the taste is in my tongue this is it there’s also a dehumidifier here because of course in a cave like this it can become very humid I feel like no it’s not really damp right now actually it is a little bit wet but this must help normally I also read online that people said in the reviews that you can find a lot of spiders in here so I’m looking forward to that if this whole cave is not enough yet you also have at the entrance here just a camera that looks out over the street oh my god that’s like the dream of every Moroccan woman like Moroccan women are known to be like gossipy and they call them the CCTV of the neighborhood but this is like next level your mum would love this she would you can turn off the lights and then like you can turn off the lights and then like make noises and see what people would do I also wonder if this is comfortable to sleep it is kinda nice here I mean I’m a person with a bad neck and I would say seven out of 10 wow in a cave in a cave that’s impressive yeah yeah it also has a small bathroom here very basic and a toilet but it has it’s still a cave of course this is the first time that I ever sleep in a cave I think and it’s actually quite comfortable are you comfortable Achraf it seems so see you in the morning good morning I had an amazing sleep I actually slept very good in the cave here how did you sleep oh my God it’s so dark in here it uh doesn’t give any light and it’s super quiet it really is a good good place to sleep this is an oven and like all traditional neighborhoods have something like this in the middle even in big cities every like traditional neighborhood has this because before they didn’t have of course like gas and and ovens and like electricity so like all the people from the neighborhood would just come here and cook here wow that’s so cool it’s also like very community oriented yeah it’s very cool there used to be a river that went all the way here in the middle of the village but it has been dried up many years already like a Morocco like many other countries in the world has been suffering with a lack of water and drought and right now you can still see how deep it was and you even see like on the side of the houses here that the water just ate up from the houses on the side it also led to there’s a lot of uh fig trees growing on the houses there’s just a bird that probably comes and poops and then drops it there and then you just uh have a fig tree growing through your house I love how they made like a facade in front of the cave yeah make it look like a real house so cool that this is still standing wow this is cool that it’s just sticking out here in the middle just hang stuff on it smells like incense in here would it be safe here if there would be an earthquake and is the white is it all paint or is it some specific something that you put on the walls to protect it local women usually do not want their faces to be shown on interviews but many news agencies ignore that and continue filming unconstitutionally but we chose to respect that what do you like most about living here and is there anything that makes it more difficult to live in a cave than in another house I don’t like to use the word but this really is a hidden gem what else is there Tripadvisor recommends I think it must be such a nice place to grow up here with all those small little streets there’s a lot of kids playing everywhere there’s so many old artworks hanging around the walls I think they also have a very nice roof terrace up there it’s as hot as a witch’s coochie the caves may be disappearing but the creativity here remains bhalil is also known for its handmade jellaba buttons crafted by local women who often sit in the doorways sewing for hours in a way the art of the village mirrors its homes detailed patient and made by hand I see they have spanned a rope here all along the road I think to make clothing she said do you want some maybe in Morocco there is a stereotype about the people from this region like around Fes as well and here which is that they are very traditional and they do things in a very authentic way and they are very secure with making certain stuff and they are of course also a bit more conservative and I think that’s very true you notice that how also by example women they still wear the caps in the old way while in other areas in Morocco they don’t do that anymore and there’s a lot of things like that also the button making from the djellaba all of that is still made in the authentic way wow I didn’t know so much could fit in one cave look at all these old cameras wow wow this keeps going here there used to be also jews living here before because uh you can still see some of the Hebrew relics that are left here we should take pictures of all of these this is like a goldmine of music this is Latif Abdellaoui a local artist and collector who has appeared in both local and international media including an article in the Washington Post he is known for his eccentric style and his obsession with gathering relics love it it’s like a man who never sits still this makes me nostalgic now I should touch it because someone told me the other day that’s something I completely forgot is that these TVs if you touch them they yeah yeah they like they tinkle on your fingers I forgot about that oh I don’t know where to look first
there’s so much here doesnot work anymore Allahu Akbar how do you acquire all these things do you collect money from different countries how much do I want no no no I’m asking I can he said he has everything OK I have a lot of I travelled a lot of places and I have a lot of countries that I went to maybe you want to have this you can collect these if you want that’s Usbekistan usbekistan we this Indonesia Indonesia and this is Turkey Turkey really that’s all you get completely lost here thank you we’re being followed by a lot of children is this an old well no one lives here anymore it just used as storage right now bye bye people that live here they really do like their country because you see a lot of Moroccan flags everywhere so this is how the cave starts when someone uh wants to build a new cave they just find something that already looks like this and then they start digging from here but now they don’t do that anymore it’s also good for the animals that they are not in the heat the whole day they also have some shade here we just went over the whole village we accumulated some following behind us and now we’re back yeah and now we’re back at the beginning of the village this was definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve been in Morocco so far definitely a place that I recommend everyone to visit and you didn’t even know that this existed before I didn’t yeah I think a lot of people don’t know of this existence so I totally recommend to come here in a country that is filled with marvelous locations Bhalil really is a gem still hidden in the mountains in a world that’s always building upwards there’s something beautiful about a village that built inwards into the heart of the earth itself it’s definitely from there yeah there’s one here and another one over there these are religious chants I thought it was a celebration no they are chants in these two different shrines a shrine here and another one you’ll pass by these are our own traditions I have never heard of something like this they’re our friday traditions I don’t think you guys are from here I’m from casablanca and him? and he’s from belgium funny where circumstances have brought you we’re sewing what are you sewing? jellaba buttons, come see oh from jellabas yes we work with tailors in fes also in casa and other places but we don’t have good eyesight anymore our eyes betrayed us we can only work with glasses assalamu alaikum, you alright? Do you know how to make tea? no That’s fine I’ll make you some thanks You can sleep wherever you’d like for if you want to make it more lively The cave always has a stable temperature both in winter and summer How old is the cave? This is a question you cannot answer in a simple way because the cave was made long ago But it’s easier to say when it was inhabited in 1270 This was when an Arab tribe immigrated From Saudi Arabia who were called Banu Hilal During this period They started inhabiting North Africa That’s why this village is called Bhalil The races that make up the population of this village are amazighs romans that came from volubilis then banu hilal and also a jewish family from sefrou with whom there were commercial relations with bhalil thanks How long did you live here with your family? I was born in the cave, but not in this one And I also have another cave that I inherited from my grandparents cheers cheers it’s called sebsi so did I it’s isolated from everything can I pass please? yes of course! sorry it’s all fine, son can always see what someone else is making This shows that bhalil’s structure is very old because there is no cement or iron when people used to dig out the caves they would build with the excess and bhalil’s first people settled in this exact area next to the river this is the type of caves people would live in before so do most people now live in houses like this or in caves there are always people who live in caves those who cannot afford to buy a house they live in caves these walls are used to separate people from the outside light, sun and weather yeah very cold also oh it’s very big inside so much more spacious than most average houses if you want to fix it then you’ll need a lot of money are young people also still living in caves too or do they prefer to live in bigger cities? if they’re still under their parents’ care it’s normal to stay with their parents but if they are newlyweds if they can afford to, then they move out if not, then they stay in the cave Do people still make new caves? You need a permit in order to make a new one but it has some very strict rules When there are caves next to each other They worry that it would collapse Assalamu alaikum would you like to get in? sure this is another type of caves at the time of al haouz earthquake we didn’t get affected even though almost all morocco did it’s a paint out of lime she’s been living here for 25 years First of all, how calm it is Then natural simplicity Something you cannot find anywhere else even if I live in a villa, or appartment I would never be able to find this calm There are none you can find many in normal houses but not here First of all, the cave adapts to outside weather It gets warm in the winter and cold in the summer Unlike normal houses caves are something unique Do you think many Moroccans know of this place? Not at all even people from Fes maybe wouldn’t know This is the problem, only a few kilometres away yet they don’t goodbye! off the beaten track let’s use all the hippie words there is did a lot of things change ever since you were young? Yes, everything has changed even traditions and how do you look at the village’s future I think it will be good, because there are many pending projects that have to do with tourism and are there more and more tourists nowadays? it’s better than before but we hope that the future would be better these are the buttons it is made only in this region here they are and most local women make these yes it’s moroccan jewish culture then it spread in the region there’s usually two or three women that make these in a family how long does it take to make around half a day men were the ones who used to wear this but now women stole it from us what is this rope for? for sewing jellaba buttons you want? here give him how much? just give it to him thanks where in morocco are you from? guess Casa? Casa how did you collect everything here? I was obsessed with this ever since I was 7 i’m a painter a carpenter a construction worker a gardener an illiterate but I learned many languages french, bit of spanish, arabic, amazigh, tassousit whatever you ask me for I can make for you oum kalthoum this is for palestine never this is an old concert in Rabat a lot of moroccans grew up studying with this i have tide I have cigarettes, casa, favorites the cigarettes are still inside? yes how old are they? very old these are insects this is Farid al-Atrash and Asmahan militery gear of germany or something I’m the first one here to make a museum no one had a homestay only after me did they make them this had a speaker that used to play the whole quran then i took it out because people would get scared of it is it real? that’s my addiction, I’m always buying stuff all of my free time I use to buy stuff I don’t care about taking care of myself I like to always be working, that’s my life yes I have however much you’d like thanks where’s this one from? thank you no problem yes, where they used to collect rainwater this is where we lived before your family? yes we did that cave right there we moved out and built a house nearby if we would go sleep there now it will be uncomfortable, because we got used to the house in the summer, it’s cold and in the winter, it’s warm and how was it to move to a normal house? we got used to it we said to the cave good bye we’ll leave you in peace where are you going? going to buy a mask wait for the car to go go now go and pay attention to the car that’s the first step then the second step here there are cats, dogs, donkeys these type of caves are just for the animals animal’s caves are on the outside of the village yes

Inside the Moroccan Village Where People Still Live in Caves

Hidden in the hills near Sefrou, there’s a village unlike any other in Morocco — where families have lived for centuries inside real caves.
In this documentary vlog, I travel to Bhalil, a Berber (Amazigh) village where the homes are carved directly into the mountain. We stay overnight inside a lived-in cave house, meet locals who’ve preserved this ancient way of life, and discover how a community built from stone still thrives in the modern world.
From the women hand-sewing buttons for traditional jellabas, to elders telling stories of the caves’ past, this journey reveals the warmth, craftsmanship, and resilience behind Morocco’s most unique village.
This is the real Morocco — far from the tourist paths, where history still breathes through the rock walls of everyday homes.

Want to also stay in this cave? – Grotte Thami 0691073031

📍 Locations: Bhalil
📅 Filmed: 2025
🎥 Style: Raw documentary vlog

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WATCH NEXT:

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CHAPTERS
00:00 – Inside the Cave Village of Bhalil, Morocco;
00:35 – Exploring the Hidden Streets of Bhalil;
02:02 – Meeting the Women of Bhalil;
03:41 – Spending a Night in a Real Cave House;
09:18 – Traditional Moroccan Oven in the Village;
10:16 – Walking Tour Through Bhalil’s Cave Homes;
13:16 – Conversations with Local Villagers;
16:13 – Moroccan Craftsmanship and Daily Life;
17:58 – Visiting Latif Abdellaoui’s Antique Store;
21:26 – Discovering an Abandoned Cave Home;
22:50 – Exploring the “Animal Cave” of Bhalil;
23:21 – Why Bhalil Is Morocco’s Most Beautiful Village;

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🎬 Stock & Drone Footage: 1.envato.market/mOojBM

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WHO AM I?
Hi, I’m Jonathan Le Blanc. I create raw, documentary-style travel videos to tell human stories that rarely make it to the mainstream. My channel explores misunderstood, overlooked, or misrepresented places around the world.

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💟 Edited by: @Ajjouche on IG

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