Rupite

Rupite (Bulgarian: Рупите, pronounced [ˈrupite]) is a village which includes a small mountainous protected area in the southeastern part Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria, 10-12 kilometres northeast of Petrich, inside Petrich Municipality, on the right bank of the Struma River. It is best known as the place where the Bulgarian medium Baba Vanga lived and was buried. The area is in fact the crater 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 volcano, consists of three small summits, of which the middle one is the highest. Volcanic rocks 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 and fauna, Kozhuh is a proclaimed natural landmark since 1962. Remains of an ancient town called Petra, were discovered at the southwestern foot of Kozhuh. In 2002, the scientists came across the proof of their identification of the city: a Latin inscription, dated 308 AD, of an imperial appeal addressed to the local urban citizens of Heraclea Sintica. Thus ended the years-long argument between Greece and Bulgaria about where Heraclea Sintica actually was.