Extensive stone ruins of southeastern Zimbabwe.
Located southeast of Nyanda, Zimb., it is the largest of many such ruins in southern Africa. Extending over more than 60 acres (24 hectares), the ruins comprise a hilltop fortress and walls of stone monoliths. Its oldest parts date from the 8th century AD, though the site had been occupied for about 600 years before that. The centre of a great inland empire ruled by the Karanga (Shona) people who traded on the shores of the Indian Ocean, it flourished between the 11th and 15th centuries. The discovery of the ruins in 1867 attracted much archaeological research. A smaller and more recent group of ruins (Little Zimbabwe) is located about 8 mi (13 km) away. Great Zimbabwe was named a World Heritage site in 1986.