Dzimba dzemabwe, house of house……Great Zimbabwe. You all remember the one dollar coin yes that one, big and round, it must have been the biggest of them all. I have been great zim a number of times, since I was a baby and I have the v11s lol and no am not going to post them, just know that they are cute. It may not be a hidden treasure but great zim deserves to have its story told from my point of view……if you know what I mean.

History buffs will tell you that the house of stone was believed to have served as a royal palace for the local sovereign. As such, it would have been used as the seat of political power. Among the structure’s most prominent features were the walls, some of which were over five metres high. They were constructed without any mortar, talk about architectural finesse at its best. Eventually, the city was abandoned and eventually fell into ruin. Great Zimbabwe is located in the south-eastern hills of Zimbabwe right next to the famous Lake Mutirikwi and the town of Masvingo. The ruins were the capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe during the country’s late Iron Age. Initial Construction of the city began in the 11th century and continued until it was abandoned in the 15th century. The structures were instituted by the ancestral Shona, the Bantu tribe if am not mistaken. The stone city spans an area of 7.22 square kilometres (1,780 acres) which, at its peak, could have housed up to 18,000 people. Before I forget the ruins were recognised as a world heritage site by UNESCO. Great Zimbabwe was eventually adopted as a national monument by the government of Zimbabwe, and guess what, the state also adopted the name. The word great distinguishes the site from the many hundreds of small ruins, now known as “zimbabwes”, spread across the Zimbabwe Highveld. There are 200 such sites in southern Africa, such as bumbusi in Zimbabwe and manyikeni found in Mozambique, which also have monumental and mortar less walls but, Great Zimbabwe is the largest of them all.

Activities include hiking on the numerous rock formations that surround the ruins, sight-seeing, view of artefacts (the Zimbabwe birds are part of those artefacts also known as the hungwe bird), tradition music, paying a visit to the great Zimbabwe museum plus the botanical garden in Masvingo. As for accommodation, have no fear you have place like Great Zimbabwe hotel (African sun/legacy), lodge at the ancient city, Norma jean’s Lakeview resort, great Zimbabwe lodges as well as Temba lodge.

Ps don’t forget to see the lake, it’s quite beautiful especially towards sunset…..thank me later

The_tourist