It is estimated that the central ruins and surrounding valley supported a Shona population of 10,000 to 20,000. With an economy based on cattle husbandry, crop cultivation, and the trade of gold on the coast of the Indian Ocean, Great Zimbabwe was the heart of a thriving trading empire from the 11th to the 15th centuries. The word zimbabwe, the country's namesake, is a Shona (Bantu) word meaning “stone houses.”

The site is generally divided into three main areas: the Hill Complex, the Great Enclosure, and the Valley Ruins. The first two are characterized by mortarless stone construction, but they also include ruined daga (earthen and mud-brick) structures that may once have rivaled the stone buildings in grandeur. The Valley Ruins, located between the Hill Complex and the Great Enclosure, include a large number of mounds that are remnants of daga buildings.

The Hill Complex, which was formerly called the Acropolis, is believed to have been the spiritual and religious centre of the city. It sits on a steep-sided hill that rises 262 feet (80 metres) above the ground, and its ruins extend some 328 feet (100 metres) by 148 feet (45 metres). It is the oldest part of the site; stratigraphic evidence shows that the first stones were laid there about the year 900. The builders incorporated natural granite boulders and rectangular blocks to form walls up to 20 feet (6 metres) thick and 36 feet (11 metres) high. Within the walls are the remains of daga houses.

Great Zimbabwe was largely abandoned during the 15th century. With the city's decline, its stoneworking and pottery-making techniques seem to have transferred southward to Khami (now also in ruins). Portuguese explorers probably encountered the ruins in the 16th century, but it was not until the late 19th century that the existence of the ruins was confirmed, generating much archaeological research. European explorers who visited the site in the late 1800s believed it to be the legendary city of Ophir, the site of King Solomon's mines. Because of its stonework and further evidence of an advanced culture, the site was variously, and erroneously, attributed to ancient civilizations such as the Phoenician, Greek, or Egyptian. In 1905 the English archaeologist David Randall-MacIver (Randall-MacIver, David) concluded that the ruins were medieval and of exclusively African origin; his findings were confirmed by the English archaeologist Gertrude Caton-Thompson (Caton-Thompson, Gertrude) in 1929.

In the late 19th century numerous soapstone figurines in the form of a bird were found in the ruins; this Zimbabwe Bird later became a national symbol, incorporated into the Zimbabwe flag and shown in other places of high honour. Great Zimbabwe became a national monument and was designated a World Heritage site in 1986. Despite its historical importance and its nationalistic role, however, the site has received inadequate government funding for its preservation and scientific study.