The Great Enclosure
Stone walls without mortar.
Fanny Schertzer — CC BY 3.0 · Fanny Schertzer — CC BY 3.0 · Aart Rietveld — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fanny Schertzer — CC BY 3.0 · Fanny Schertzer — CC BY 3.0 · Fanny Schertzer — CC BY 3.0
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined stone city in the hills of the country's south-east, the largest stone structure in precolonial Southern Africa. A World Heritage Site, it gave the modern state its name, and it spans 7.22 square km with stone walls built without mortar. The area was settled from around 1000 AD, and major building began in the eleventh century and continued until the fifteenth. It was the capital of a kingdom built by ancestors of the Shona people, enriched by wide trade, and estimates of its population range from 10,000 to 20,000. It was abandoned in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. The name comes from Shona words meaning houses of stone or venerated houses. The city has three parts: the Hill Complex, the oldest; the Valley Complex; and the Great Enclosure, with walls 11 metres high. You walk a narrow passage between two high walls to the solid Conical Tower, and climb steps among boulders to the Hill Complex, where walls merge with natural rock. The soapstone Zimbabwe Birds, the national emblem, are among the most important finds. The site is 24.3 km in a straight line south-east of Masvingo. The climb up the hill is steep and its stones slippery, so bring suitable shoes and water and start in the morning before the heat. Do not climb the walls, which are dry-laid and fragile. A guide helps you understand the site. It has spiritual meaning for local people, so keep quiet and respectful.
Stone walls without mortar.
A solid mass of stone.
Walls merging with boulders.
South-east of Masvingo, Zimbabwe
A half day for all three parts, including the hill.
Ancestors of the Shona people, between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries.