Matera, south of Italy, is considered the oldest still inhabited city in the italian territory, since the first inhabitants have colonized the area about in 10000 b.C. or so. Even if during the centuries it was subjected to the greeks, the romans and to the long list of rulers of the middle ages, none of these powers has changed the urban organization of the city and its spontaneous and unorganized growth on the side of a deep canyon.
I think it’s quite clear that this city can be an incredible source of inspiraiton for Minas Tirith: the way the buildings are built one over the other climbing up the hill is just incredible. It feels natural and organic, like the buildings are part of the mountain itself. This is the result, as I said, of a society that has kept unchanged its traditions, lifestyle and building techniques during many centuries.
But what makes the city really unique is the specific structure of the houses.
As the last two pictures show, most of the houses are nothing else but caves with a walled entrace, with most of the rooms being carved inside of the mountain. (most of these now are empty, living conditions were terrible)
Here are a couple of reconstructions of what the interiors looked like when inhebited.
So i think this kind of settlement can be applied for some not so evolved populations of men we have in the southern part of our map. They can be ruined or still inhabited and should mark the presence of the pre-gondorian populations that lived in those areas before being colonized by numenorians.
Thanks for reading.
