The landscape of Rupite is dominated by the eminence of Kozhuh (кожух, "fur coat," taking its name from its shape) to the west.

Rupite is also famous for its healing mineral springs with a temperature of 71-78 °C and an average discharge of 35 L/s.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.

Today Rupite is mostly famous as the residence of the late alleged clairvoyant Baba Vanga (Vangeliya Gushterova, 1911 – 1996), who still attracts thousands of worshipers and tourists.

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

The icons were created by artist Svetlin Rusev and were not generally approved by the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church for being too realistic and not conforming to the canons.