Rupite
Encyclopedia
Protected area
Protected areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognised natural, ecological and/or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international...
in the southeastern part Blagoevgrad Province
Blagoevgrad Province
Blagoevgrad Province , also known as Pirin Macedonia , is a province of southwestern Bulgaria. It borders four other Bulgarian provinces to the north and east, Greece to the south, and the Republic of Macedonia to the west. The province has 14 municipalities with 12 towns...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, 10-12 kilometres northeast of Petrich
Petrich
Petrich is a town in Blagoevgrad Province in southwestern Bulgaria, located at the foot of the Belasica Mountains in the Strumeshnitsa Valley. , the town has 29920 inhabitants.Petrich is located close to the borders with Greece and the Republic of Macedonia...
, on the right bank of the Struma River
Struma River
The Struma or Strymónas is a river in Bulgaria and Greece. Its ancient name was Strymōn . Its catchment area is 10,800 km²...
. It is best known as the place where the Bulgarian medium Baba Vanga
Baba Vanga
Vanga , born Vangelia Pandeva Dimitrova after marriage Vangelia Gushterova was a blind Bulgarian mystic, clairvoyant and herbalist who spent most of her life in the Rupite area in the Kozhuh mountains, Bulgaria...
lived and was buried. The area is in fact the crater
Volcanic crater
A volcanic crater is a circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity. It is typically a basin, circular in form within which occurs a vent from which magma erupts as gases, lava, and ejecta. A crater can be of large dimensions, and sometimes of great depth...
of an extinct volcano, its appearance being shaped by the volcanic hill of Kozhuh, the thermal springs and Pchelina Hill. 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 resembling a fur coat thrown on) situated to the west. Although it is only 281 m high, it rises like a high mountain in the low and flat Petrich Plain. The eminence, which is part of the outskirts of the extinct volcanoVolcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
, consists of three small summits, of which the middle one is the highest. Volcanic rock
Volcanic rock
Volcanic rock is a rock formed from magma erupted from a volcano. In other words, it is an igneous rock of volcanic origin...
s and rock pyramids can be observed at the foot of Kozhuh. Due to the eminence's interesting origin (often called "the only volcano in Bulgaria") and the abundance of rare species of the Bulgarian flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
, Kozhuh is a proclaimed natural landmark since 1962. Remains of an ancient Thracian
Thracians
The ancient Thracians were a group of Indo-European tribes inhabiting areas including Thrace in Southeastern Europe. They spoke the Thracian language – a scarcely attested branch of the Indo-European language family...
town called Petra, founded in the last quarter of the 4th century BC, were discovered at the southwestern food of Kozhuh.
Apart from the eminence, Rupite is also known for the curative hot springs issuing in the area, with a temperature of 71-78°C and an average discharge of 35 l
Litre
pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...
/sec
Second
The second is a unit of measurement of time, and is the International System of Units base unit of time. It may be measured using a clock....
. The climate in Rupite is very specific, transitional between continental
Continental climate
Continental climate is a climate characterized by important annual variation in temperature due to the lack of significant bodies of water nearby...
and Mediterranean
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...
and featuring hot dry summers and mild winters, which is one of the reasons for the variety of rare plant species, 13 of which endangered in Bulgaria. 201 bird species inhabit the area, including a number of species typical for the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
that are not present in other areas of the country. Almost all of the snake
Snake
Snakes are elongate, legless, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes that can be distinguished from legless lizards by their lack of eyelids and external ears. Like all squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales...
species that can be observed in Bulgaria can be found in Rupite, as well as four species of tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
s and other animals that prefer relatively high temperatures.
Church
The Church of St Petka was constructed at a site chosen by Baba Vanga in 1992 and has since then become a place of worship for many people and a renowned tourist attraction. The icons were created by the noted artist Svetlin RusevSvetlin Rusev
Svetlin Rusev is a famous artist and one of the greatest Bulgarian collectors of creations of art. He is very famous for the Svetlin Rusev Donative Exhibition, a permanent art exhibition in Pleven, including over 400 works of Bulgarian and foreign art donated by him.-References:...
and were not generally approved by the Holy Synod
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...
of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church
Bulgarian Orthodox Church
The Bulgarian Orthodox Church - Bulgarian Patriarchate is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church with some 6.5 million members in the Republic of Bulgaria and between 1.5 and 2.0 million members in a number of European countries, the Americas and Australia...
for being too realistic and not conforming to the canons. The house of Vanga can be seen nearby and a new monastery is being built.
Honour
Rupite GlacierRupite Glacier
Rupite Glacier is a 2.9 km long glacier on Smith Island, South Shetland Islands draining the southeast slopes of Imeon Range east of the summit Mount Foster and southeast of Evlogi Peak. Flowing southeastward into Osmar Strait. Bulgarian early mapping in 2008. Named after the settlement...
on Smith Island
Smith Island (South Shetland Islands)
Smith Island is long and wide, lying west of Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands of the British Antarctic Territory. Surface area ....
, South Shetland Islands
South Shetland Islands
The South Shetland Islands are a group of Antarctic islands, lying about north of the Antarctic Peninsula, with a total area of . By the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, the Islands' sovereignty is neither recognized nor disputed by the signatories and they are free for use by any signatory for...
is named after Rupite.