Masekesa

Masekesa was a gold fair in the highlands of Manyika, known in earlier times as Chipangura. Here the Chicanga, ruler of Manica, controlled foreign traders and the exchange of gold for imported goods. Cloth and glass beads came inland, while iron hoes, copper, ivory and cattle were also exchanged at the fair.

In 1695 a Rozvi army sacked the settlement. Trade later resumed under the authority of the Manica rulers, who kept close control over gold digging and the terms of exchange. In the eighteenth century the Portuguese maintained a small fort, enclosing a thatched church built of stone and clay. In the early nineteenth century succession disputes disrupted the fair; drought and Nguni raids followed, and the Portuguese traders abandoned it in 1835.

The later city of Chimoio lies here.