The Municipality of Šentrupert lies in the central area of the Mirna sub-basin, the inflow of the Sava River in the central Dolenjska region. It was formed during the transition from the Mirna-Mokronog basin to the hills in the north, and reaches as far as the bordering mountains of the Posavje region. In an area of 42km2 live 2400 people in 25 settlements. The community is concentrated in settlements on the ascending sides of the basin edge. The hinterland is more of an isolated settlement – the hills and mountains are scattered with ridge-top and mountain-side villages. The centre of the main settlement of Šentrupert is the circular market place, which is markedly “centrally” clustered, assisted by the Church of Sv. Rupert (St Rupert); the main ambience is created by single-storey buildings, which spread out evenly in several roadside groups.
Signs of inhabitation reach far back into ancient history, when a road led towards the pass near Mokronog, which connected the Mirna Valley with the Krško basin through the Laknica Valley. Today, the Mirna Valley’s most important transport routes, both road and railway, which connect the Dolenjska valley system with the Sava Valley at Sevnica, run along the southern edge of the municipality.
Today’s image of the municipality reflects life from the second half of the first millennium onwards. Škrljevo Castle, as a historically authenticated estate of Princess Hemma, a descendent of the Breže-Selška dynasty and the Church of St Rupert, one of the most beautiful monuments in Slovenia from the late Gothic period, dominate the skyline. The castle was built on the rising ground to the west of the village of Škrljevo, by the north-eastern edge of the Šentrupert plain. The whole north-western region is marked by this building to such an extent that it creates a balance between the other aesthetically important buildings from Vesela Gora, Okrog, Viher and Veliki Cirnik to Mokronog. Through its documents, the parish appears to be one of the oldest in the former Kranjska province. Princess Hemma consolidated the strong commercial foundations with her land grants. In the early Middle Ages, even the seat of the Dolenjska archdeaconship was here. There are very few visible remains from the Romanesque period: the south portal in front of the Church of Sv. Duh (Holy Spirit) in Viher and the now walled-in north portal in front of the Church of Sv. Barbara (St Barbara) in Okrog.
The most valuable cultural heritage in this area originates from the Gothic period, although the Baroque period left its impression on one of the most stylistically pure architectural examples in Slovenia – the Church of Sv. Frančišek Ksaverij (St Francis Xavier) at Vesela Gora.