Great Zimbabwe Stone Houses, Zimbabwe
Constructed about 900 years ago, the stone monuments of Great Zimbabwe comprise one of the many breathtaking historical monuments in Zimbabwe and is considered a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The monuments were believed to have been constructed from the 10th to 15th century AD and served as the seat of political power for the royal monarch and housed about eighteen thousand inhabitants.
The ruins of the Great Zimbabwe consisted of several tall stone walls as high as thirty-six feet as well as buildings and monuments made of granite, through a process known as dry stonewalling: where stones were carefully placed on one another. The reason for the construction of this ancient site is unknown. However, Muslim inhabitants from the Maghreb assert that it was built to keep safe, the gold from the mines.
