GREAT ZIMBABWE RUINS: CENTER OF A MYSTERIOUS AFRICAN CIVILISATION

In the hills of the southeastern corner of Zimbabwe, near Lake Mutirikwi and the town of Masvingo, a great city of stone rises out of the ground and dominates the landscape. It has been designated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Site since 1986.

PHOTO CAPTION: The walls of the structure were put together without the use of mortar and were made of separately formed stone blocks.

PHOTO CAPTION: The Great Zimbabwe. SOURCE: Books: A rocky road to Zimbabwe

For centuries, this ancient Shona city, called the Great Zimbabwe stood as the hub of a vast trade network. One of its most prominent features is its walls, some over five meters high and constructed without mortar. In addition to architecture, Great Zimbabwe’s most famous works of art are the eight birds carved of soapstone found in its ruins.

Today it stands empty, but it is still a spectacular monument to the ingenuity and craftsmanship of the Africans who built it a thousand years ago.