Great Zimbabwe

Great Zimbabwe · Zimbabwe

Field notes

civilizations

Great Zimbabwe

types

City

built

1,100 CE — 1,450 CE

occupied

1,000 CE — 1,500 CE

country

Zimbabwe

The site

Great Zimbabwe is a stone city in the south-eastern hills near Masvingo, Zimbabwe, settled from around 1000 CE and serving as a kingdom's capital from the 13th century. Built by ancestors of the Shona people, it is the largest stone structure in precolonial Southern Africa, spanning some 7.2 square kilometers. Its Hill Complex, Valley Complex and towering Great Enclosure rose across the 11th to 15th centuries before the city was abandoned.

Nearby sites

~262 km

Khami

~277 km

Kingdom of Mapungubwe

~1,557 km

Kilwa Kisiwani

~2,128 km

Gedi