Domboshawa

Domboshava is a village in the province of Mashonaland East, Zimbabwe. It is located in an area of granite hills about 27 km (17 mi) north of Harare. The village is named after a large granite hill near the village. There are several rock formations at the top of the hill which have been formed by natural erosion. The hill, and rocks, are covered with lichen. There are three colours of lichen at Domboshava: red, green and grey.

Map of Domboshawa, Zimbabwe

The name is derived from dombo meaning "hill" and shava (pronounced shawa) meaning "red". (dombo is in fact the Shona word for rock / stone - gomo is the common name for a hill - and dzvuku is the general word for red, shava is a local dialectual term)

The granite hill is a National Monument of Zimbabwe and has some examples of cave paintings which date back almost 6000 years. The majority of these paintings can be found in a cave which is some walk from the rock formations at the top of the hill. There is also a hole in the cave that leads to the top hill.

For many years, primarily in the later 20th-century, Domboshawa was a major location of truck gardening for the markets of Harare. Since the start of the 21st-century of so Domboshawa's economy has seen a rise in pottery production.