Zvongombe

South of the Zambezi escarpment, Zvongombe belongs to the northern reaches of the Zimbabwe stone-building tradition. Its carefully laid walls formed part of a hilltop settlement in the upper Mazowe country. The site has been associated with the early capitals of the Mutapa state, whose rise in the fifteenth century shifted the balance of power on the northern plateau. Shona traditions remember Nyatsimba Mutota as the ruler who led his people north and founded the kingdom.