Rupite (, ) is a village which includes a small mountainous

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

in the southeastern part of

Blagoevgrad Province Blagoevgrad Province (, ''oblast Blagoevgrad'' or Благоевградска област, ''Blagoevgradska oblast''), also known as Pirin Macedonia or Bulgarian Macedonia (), (''Pirinska Makedoniya or Bulgarska Makedoniya'') is a province ('' ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

, 11 kilometers northeast of

Petrich Petrich ( ) is a town in Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria, located in Sandanski–Petrich Valley at the foot of the Belasica Mountains in the Strumeshnitsa Valley. According to the 2021 census, the town has 26,778 inhabitants. ...

Petrich Municipality Petrich Municipality is a municipality in Blagoevgrad Province in Southwestern Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly sout ...

, on the western bank of the

Struma River The Struma or Strymonas (, ; , ) is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymon (, ). Its drainage area is , of which in Bulgaria, in Greece and the remaining in North Macedonia and Serbia. It takes its source from the Vitosha ...

. It is best known as the place where alleged Bulgarian clairvoyant

Baba Vanga Vangeliya Pandeva Gushterova (; , ; 3 October 1911 – 11 August 1996), commonly known as Baba Vanga (), was a Bulgarian attributed Mysticism, mystic and healer who claimed to have foreseen the future. Blind since her teenhood, she spent most ...

lived. The area is also associated with the

crater A crater is a landform consisting of a hole or depression (geology), depression on a planetary surface, usually caused either by an object hitting the surface, or by geological activity on the planet. A crater has classically been described ...

of an

extinct volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the Crust (geology), crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and volcanic gas, gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth ...

, the hills of Kozhuh and Pchelina, and the warm

thermal spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by cir ...

s. The village has 1,124 inhabitants.

Nature

The landscape of Rupite is dominated by the eminence of Kozhuh (''кожух'', "fur coat," taking its name from its shape) to the west. Although it is only 281 m high, it rises prominently from the flat Petrich Plain. The eminence, which is part of the outskirts of an extinct

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

, consists of three small summits, of which the middle one is the highest.

Volcanic rock Volcanic rocks (often shortened to volcanics in scientific contexts) are rocks formed from lava erupted from a volcano. Like all rock types, the concept of volcanic rock is artificial, and in nature volcanic rocks grade into hypabyssal and me ...

s and rock pyramids can be observed at the foot of Kozhuh. The climate in the locality is transitional between

continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...

and

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

, featuring hot, dry summers and relatively mild winters. The natural vegetation consists mainly of

white poplar White poplar is a common name used to refer to several trees in the genus ''Populus ''Populus'' is a genus of 25–30 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names vari ...

(''Populus alba''), and there are 13 plant species

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

in Bulgaria. Almost all of the

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

species observed in the country can be found in Rupite, including the

European cat snake The European cat snake (''Telescopus fallax''), or the Mediterranean cat snake, is a species of venomous snake belonging to the family Colubridae. This species is found in Southeastern Europe and Western Asia. Taxonomy The European cat snake was ...

(''Telescopus fallax''), as well as four species of

tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

s. A total of 201 bird species inhabit the area. Via Aristotelis, which passes nearby, is one of the two main bird migration routes through Bulgaria. Some bird species include the

olive-tree warbler The olive-tree warbler (''Hippolais olivetorum'') is a species of passerine bird belongong to the family Acrocephalidae, the reed and tree warblers. It breeds in southeast Europe and the Near East. It is migratory, wintering in eastern and south ...

(''Hippolais olivetorum''),

masked shrike The masked shrike (''Lanius nubicus'') is a species of bird in the shrike family, Laniidae. It breeds in southeastern Europe and at the eastern end of the Mediterranean, with a separate population in eastern Iraq and western Iran. It is bird mi ...

(''Lanius nubicus''), and

lesser grey shrike The lesser grey shrike (''Lanius minor'') is a member of the shrike family ''Laniidae''. It breeds in South and Central Europe and western Asia in the summer and migrates to winter quarters in southern Africa in the early autumn, returning in sp ...

(''Lanius minor''). The

pygmy cormorant The pygmy cormorant (''Microcarbo pygmaeus'') is a member of the Phalacrocoracidae (cormorant) family of seabirds. It breeds in south-eastern Europe and south-western Asia. It is partially migratory, with northern populations wintering further ...

(''Phalacrocorax pygmaeus'') winters in the area. Because of its volcanic origin and the abundance of rare species of both

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

and

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

, Kozhuh is a proclaimed natural landmark since 1962. A 0.4-hectare protected area is located about 2 km from the village of Rupite at the eastern foot of Kozhuh. Rupite is also famous for its healing mineral springs with a temperature of 71-78 °C and an average discharge of 35 L/ s.

History

Remains of an ancient town were discovered at the southwestern foot of Kozhuh. In 2002, a Latin inscription dated 308 CE and consisting of an imperial appeal addressed to the local urban citizens, suggests that the settlement was

Heraclea Sintica Heraclea Sintica (; ), also known as Heraclea Strymonike, was an ancient Greek city located near what is now the village of Rupite in south-western Bulgaria. History Heraclea Sintica was founded sometime between 356 and 339 BC by Philip II of ...

. The town likely existed from 4th century BCE to the 6th century CE, and was the main town of the

Thracian The Thracians (; ; ) were an Indo-European speaking people who inhabited large parts of Southeast Europe in ancient history.. "The Thracians were an Indo-European people who occupied the area that today is shared between north-eastern Greece, ...

tribe Sints. Today Rupite is mostly famous as the residence of the late alleged clairvoyant

(Vangeliya Gushterova, 1911 – 1996), who still attracts thousands of worshipers and tourists. According to a legend, Vanga lost her sight during a storm in her early childhood, but during the accident she had a vision, which gave her clairvoyance abilities. In the last years of her life, Vanga lived in a small house in Rupite, because according to her relatives she considered the area an "energy source" from which she collected her powers.According to the statistics of

Vasil Kanchov Vasil Kanchov (26 July 1862 – 6 February 1902) was a geographer, ethnographer and teacher who served as Minister of Education of Bulgaria. Early life and education Vasil Kanchov was born in Vratsa. Upon graduating from High school i ...

in 1900, Shirbanovo (as it was known before) was populated by 252 Bulgarian Christians.

Population

The village of Rupite had 926 inhabitants at the end of 2019, up from 626 inhabitants in 1934 but down from 1,248 people in 1985. The population is declining since

Fall of Communism The revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, were a revolutionary wave of liberal democracy movements that resulted in the collapse of most Marxist–Leninist governments in the Eastern Bloc and other parts of the world. Th ...

.National Statistical Institute (NSI)
/ref> Nearly all inhabitants are ethnic Bulgarians (99.6%). ImageSize = width:400 height:250 PlotArea = left:50 right:20 top:25 bottom:30 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late Colors = id:linegrey2 value:gray(0.9) id:linegrey value:gray(0.7) id:cobar value:rgb(0.2,0.7,0.8) id:cobar2 value:rgb(0.6,0.9,0.6) DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:1400 ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:200 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:100 start:0 gridcolor:linegrey2 PlotData = color:cobar width:20 align:left bar:1934 from:0 till:626 bar:1946 from:0 till:902 bar:1956 from:0 till:1151 bar:1965 from:0 till:1197 bar:1975 from:0 till:1187 bar:1985 from:0 till:1248 bar:1992 from:0 till:1212 bar:2001 from:0 till:1125 bar:2011 from:0 till:1037 bar:2019 from:0 till:926 PlotData= textcolor:black fontsize:S bar:1934 at: 626 text: 626 shift:(-14,5) bar:1946 at: 902 text: 902 shift:(-14,5) bar:1956 at: 1151 text: 1151 shift:(-14,5) bar:1965 at: 1197 text: 1197 shift:(-14,5) bar:1975 at: 1187 text: 1187 shift:(-14,5) bar:1985 at: 1248 text: 1248 shift:(-14,5) bar:1992 at: 1212 text: 1212 shift:(-14,5) bar:2001 at: 1125 text: 1125 shift:(-14,5) bar:2011 at: 1037 text: 1037 shift:(-14,5) bar:2019 at: 926 text: 926 shift:(-14,5)

Church

The memorial temple "St. Petka of Bulgaria" was sponsored by Baba Vanga and built in 1994 at a site chosen by her in 1992. It has since become a place of worship for many people and a renowned tourist attraction. The icons were created by artist

Svetlin Rusev Svetlin Rusev (; 14 June 1933 – 26 May 2018) was a Bulgarian artist and a collector of art. He is known for the Svetlin Rusev Donative Exhibition, a permanent art exhibition in Pleven, including over 400 works of Bulgarian and foreign artist don ...

and were not generally approved by the

Holy Synod In several of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches, the patriarch or head bishop is elected by a group of bishops called the Holy Synod. For instance, the Holy Synod is a ruling body of the Georgian Orthodox ...

of the

Bulgarian Orthodox Church The Bulgarian Orthodox Church (), legally the Patriarchate of Bulgaria (), is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox jurisdiction based in Bulgaria. It is the first medieval recognised patriarchate outside the Pentarchy and t ...

for being too realistic and not conforming to the canons. The house of Vanga can be seen nearby, and a new monastery is currently under construction.

Honour

Rupite Glacier on Smith Island,

South Shetland Islands The South Shetland Islands are a group of List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands, Antarctic islands located in the Drake Passage with a total area of . They lie about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, and between southwest of the n ...

is named after Rupite.

References

External links

Nikola Gruev's gallery of Rupite
{{Petrich Municipality Villages in Blagoevgrad Province Tourist attractions in Blagoevgrad Province Geology of Bulgaria