Gluteus medius and gluteus minimus muscles play an important role in stabilization of the pelvis during gait. Ruptures of the gluteus minumus and medius tendons lead to disturbances in the gait biomechanics, which usually present as antalgic limping and lateral instability of the pelvis. Besides causing biomechanical disorders of the hip, they can also contribute to the development of a greater trochanteric pain syndrome, which is characterized by chronic pain present in the peritrochanteric region. Despite the fact that numerous conditions exist within the greater trochanter pain syndrome, new diagnostic imaging procedures and reported findings observed during hip surgery have detected gluteus medius and minimus rupture as one of its most frequent causes. Despite this fact, ruptures of gluteus medius and minimus tendons frequently remain unrecognized in practice as one of the causes of the greater trochanteric pain syndrome, probably due to complexity of its differential diagnosis. One of the leading causes of such low recognition rate may also be a lack of knowledge of orthopedic and other physicians about existence of ruptured tendons of gluteus medius and minimus as a pathological entity. The aim of this paper is to describe complex regional hip anatomy with special attention to the gluteus medius and minimus muscles, gluteal bursae and the function and role of gluteus medius and gluteus minimus in the biomechanics of the hip. Latest knowledge on etiology and epidemiology of gluteus medius and gluteus minimus tendon rupture will be outlined, together with a detailed review of the clinical manifestation of the ruptures and their diagnosis and treatment. One of the goals of this paper is to raise the physician's awareness of the existence of such pathology.