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Bitola (Macedonian Битола, Bulgarian Битоля, Albanian Manastir, Turkish Manastır, Greek Μοναστήρι, Serbian Bitolj/Битољ) is a city in Republic of Macedonia. It is located in the southwest part of the country and is close to the border with Greece.

The Slavic names of the town are transliterated from a Cyrillic alphabet and pronunciation with no analogues in English, and so have been variously rendered as Bitola (from the Macedonian).

Bitola is the second largest city in Republic of Macedonia and is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia Valley. The city is dispersed along the banks of the Dragor river at an altitude of 2,019 ft (615 m) above sea level under Baba Mountain. Spreading on an area of 1,798 sq. km. and with a population of 122,173 (1991), Bitola is an important industrial, agricultural, commercial, educational, and cultural center.

Bitola is an important junction that connects the South of the Adriatic Sea with the Aegean Sea and Central Europe, and is located only few miles from the Greek frontier border.

Baba Mountain overlooks Bitola from the east. Its magnificent Pelister mountain (2601 m) is a national park with exquisite flora and fauna, and a well-known ski resort.

The second Macedonian university is located here. Bitola has one of the oldest and most prestigious theaters in the country.

Traditionally a strong trading center, Bitola is also known as the city of the consuls. At one time during the Ottoman rule, Bitola had consulates from twelve countries. During the same period, there were a number of prestigious schools in the city including a military academy that, among others, was attended by the famous Turkish reformer Kemal Ataturk. Bitola was also the headquarter of many cultural organizations that were established at that time.

History

The town itself was founded by Illyrian tribes in the very vicinity of Heraclea Lyncestis, in the middle of the 7th century, AD. Heraclea Lyncestis have been founded by Philip II of Macedon. It was one of the major cities in the Roman Balkans. The important road of Via Egnatia was passing through the town. The name of the mediaeval town of Bitola as an inhabited place was being mentioned in very few Slav mediaeval sources and, in Greek, in a narrative as well as in a legal act. The narrative source was written by the Byzantine historian of the 11th century, Jovan Skulica. In his "Short History", among the other events, he mentioned that the Byzantine czar Vasilie II set on fire Gavrilo's castles in Bitola, when passing through and demolishing in Pelagonia. The second source written in Greek is the well-known "GRAMOTA" of Vasilie II from 1019. This document was a legal act which determined the rights of Ohrid Archibishopric and also stated the bishops which were to be in the service of the Ohrid Church, among which Bitola Bishop, too.

In many mediaeval sources, most of the coming from the west, the name Pelagonia stood for a land mark of Bitola Bishopric, and in some of them Bitola was known under the name of Heraclea due to the church tradition i.e. the turning of Heraclea Bishopric into Pelagonian Metropolitan's Diocese.

During Byzantine times it was known under the name of Monastiri (monastery). In the 6th and 7th centuries the region around Bitola experienced a demographic shift as more and more Slavic tribes settled in the area. The name of the city since then has been reported in many sources as Obitel (old slavic word, meaning a monastery), Bitel, Bitolia and Bitola. During the reign of Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria, the city was included within the Bulgarian state and was the seat of Bitola's bishop. From this period originates the first written record of Bitola, from 1014, when the city was first mentioned in the historical sources.

Until the conquest of the Turks, Bitola represented a significant center of trade in Pelagonia. After 1382, the city fell under Turkish rule. It retained its role as a developed trading, military and commercial center. According to the notes of the writer Evliya Çelebi, in this period in the city 70 mosques, several cafe-tea rooms, bezisten (old turkish market) with iron gates, and 900 shops were built. After the Expulsion of 1492, Spanish-speaking Jews arrived in waves from the Iberian peninsula, (Spain and Portugal) and other lands influenced by the Inquisition.

As a center of the military, political and cultural life, Bitola played a very important role in the life of the mediaeval Slavs. In the 14th century, i.e. on the eve of its coming under Turkish rule, Bitola experienced a powerful booming, and had already had developed trading links all over the Balkans Peninsula, especially with the big economic centers: Constantinopol, Salonika, Dubrovnik... Caravans of most variable goods moved to Bitola from all sides and reverse, from Bitola to all other centers.

Due to the outomes of the Congress of London of 1913, the city, together with the current West Macedonia, was annexed to Serbia.

After the Austrian-Turkish wars, together with the other Macedonian cities, the trade development and the overall thriving of the city was stifled. In the second half of the 19th century, however, again, it became the biggest city in Macedonia, after Thessalonica and resumed the role as the main center for trade. The shops were filled with goods from Leipzig, Paris, Vienna, London and many of other European cities. The city is also known as "city of consuls", because Bitola used to be a diplomatic center with 12 consuls during the period 1878-1913. In 1913 Serbian forces occupied Bitola and incorporated it into Serbia. During the Second world war (1941-1945), the Germans and later Bulgarians controlled the city, until it was liberated in 1944 by the Macedonian Partisans. In 1945 the first Gymnasium using the Macedonian language was opened here.

Historical buildings

Saat kula - The Clock Tower. It is not known when the clock-tower was built, although according to the written sources it was mentioned already in the 16th century, but because of the lack of any description, it is not clear if it is about the same clock-tower. According to some, the clock-tower was built in the same time with the church St.Dimitrija in 1830. Nowadays still exists the legend "that the Turkish authorities of that time collected from the Bitola county villages around 60 000 eggs and used them in the construction together with the mortar, in order to make the walls more resistant and strong."

The Clock tower has rectangular base and it is about 30 meters high. On the upper part-by the very top there is a terrace in rectangular form and it is fenced with iron fence. On each sides of the fence there is iron console construction which holds the lamps for lighting the watch. The Clock tower is divided in three levels and in the upper one the mechanism of the watch is installed. The first (old )mechanisam was replaced in the time of the second world war. Due to the effords of the City of Bitola, to maintain the old german graves from the first world war, the german nazi regime gave them a new still functioning clock mechanisam as a present. By its architecture, the Clock tower is massive construction and it is composed of walls, massive spiral stairs, wooden mezzanine constructions, pendentives (triangular pass from square to cupola) and cupola. During the construction of the clock-tower the façade is simultaneously decorated with simple stone plastic. The conservation and restoration that has been recently undertaken did not change the original look and today the clock-tower is one of the most representative monuments of culture of the Islam art.

The church of St.Dimitrija was built in 1830 with voluntary contributions of the local merchants and craftsmen. Since in the Ottoman Empire the churches were supposed look plain on the outside, the church is lavishly decorated on the inside, in order to make up for the lack of splendor on the outside. The interior of the church is of rear beauty, decorated with polielei (church lamps), carved bishop throne and engraved iconostasis. The church St.Dimitrija is constructed in a form of three-nave basilica with galleries on the upper floor above the southern and northern nave. It is arched with flat sealing, leaned on two rows of columns, symmetrically placed, whose wooden construction is covered with mortar that makes an illusion of marble panel. The capitols look like cut pyramid, placed with the narrow part down. The iconostasis is done in the technique of shallow woodcarving in the middle of the 19th century and afterwards plastered and gilded. The master-woodcarver filled the whole space with elements of flora and fauna. The iconostasis is divided with spirally engraved columns. At the side galleries, in the eastern part, there are small paraklisi (chapels) to the north and south from which the second one is more interesting, because according to the style analysis, this iconostasis has the same features like the one in St. Naum - Ohrid that dates from 1711, so it is concluded that this iconostasis dates from the 18th century as well. In the interior of the church there are many icons and on some of them the year 1773 is registered. The opening scenes of the film "The Peacemaker" were shot in the "St. Dimitrija" church in Bitola.

There is an interesting historical data about the iconostas in the church "St. Mother of Christ". It represents a combination of two iconostases that were brought from churches in Magarevo and Trnovo near Bitola, iconostases that were damaged and demolished during World War I. The iconostases from these two churches were dismantled and packaged in two hundred wooden trunks, in order to be transported to Bulgaria. However, as a result of difficult conditions of that time, the trunks remained in Veles, and afterwards were returned to Bitola. Some of the decorative elements of the iconostases disappeared forever, probably because the Bulgarian soldiers were taking them as souvenirs, and the remaining parts were taken to the church in Bitola that did not have an iconostas at that time. According to some theories by professionals, this iconostas is a work of art of the Miyak engravers. The most impressive feature of the iconostas is the arc above the imperial quarters with modeled figures of Jesus Christ and the twelve apostles. Besides the iconostas, in the temple of Notre Dame there are also some other wood-engraved items, like the bishop’s throne made in the spirit of Miyak engravers, several icon frames and five wooden engraved pillars shaped like thrones of more recent history. The fresco-art originates from two periods. The first period is from the end of the 20th century, and the second begins from the end of World War I and lasts to the present day. Businessmen and citizens from Bitola and the surrounding area, via their voluntary contributions have made possible for this church to be adorned with icons and frescos. The authors of a major part of the icons had a vast knowledge of iconography schemes of the New Testament. Icons are produced with a great sense for color, where most dominant are shades of red, green and ocher. The abundance of golden ornaments is easily noticeable and this points out to the presence of late-Byzantine artwork and baroque style. On one of these icons, the one that presents St.Dimitrij, there is a signature with the initials D.A.Z., which points out the fact that the icon was produced by the iconographer Dimitar Andonov the zograph in 1889. Since the iconostas in the temple was not completely finished, believers and handicraftsmen from Bitola continued further on with contributions in order for new icons and frescos to be made. So, after the two world wars have ended, more icon and fresco masters were engaged to carry on working for the church in Bitola. The church treasury is not enriched only by the large number of icons and frescos, but the church also has a large number of other items in its possession, like the putiri made by local masters, one darohranilka of Russian origin, as well as several paintings shoving scenes from the New Testament, brought by pilgrims from Bitola from their pilgrimage in Jerusalem.

The Ajdar-kadi (Turkish judge) mosque is one of the most attractive monuments of the Islamic architecture in Bitola. It was built in 1561-1562, as the project of the famous architect Mimar Sinan, ordered by the Bitola kadija Ajdar-kadi. The mosque was abandoned and over time, it was heavily damaged, but, the recent restoration and conservation works, have restored, to a certain extent, the original appearance to the mosque.

The Jeni mosque is located in the centre of the city. It has a square base, topped with a cupola. Near the mosque there is a minaret, 40m high. Today, in the rooms of this mosque are permanent and temporary art exhibitions are held.

The Ishak mosque is the inheritance of the famous kadi Ishak Çelebi. In the spacious yard of the mosque, there are several tombs, attractive because of the soft, molded shapes of the sarcophagi.

The Bezisten (the old Turkish market) is mentioned in another description of the city from the 16th and the 17th century. The present Bezisten in external appearance does not differ much from the original one. The Bezisten had 86 shops and 4 large iron gates. The shops were used for selling textiles, and today they are being used for selling food products.

The Bath Deboj (Turkish bath=hamam). The period of construction is not known. This hamam over time was heavily destroyed, but, after the repairs were made it regained its original appearance: beautiful facade, two large cupolas and several minor ones.

Bitola today

Many important events in Macedonian and Balkan history took place in and around in Bitola. The first motion picture made in the Balkans was recorded by the Manaki brothers in Bitola in 1903. In their honor a yearly Balkan film festival "Kamera 300" is held every year in Bitola. It is the only event of this kind in the world.

Bitola is the main economical and industrial center in the western part of Macedonia. Many of the largest companies in Macedonia are situated in the city. The most important ones are: REK, IMB, Kvasara, Shekerana. Bitola has a vast economic potential. The Pelagonija agricultural combine is the largest producer of food in the country. The Streževo water system is the largest in Macedonia and has the best technological facilities. The three thermoelectric power stations of REK Bitola produce nearly 80% of electricity in the state. The Frinko refrigerate factory is a leading electrical and metal company. Bitola also has significant capacities in textile and food industries.

University of “St. Kliment Ohridski” is second university in Republic of Macedonia. It is formed in 1979, as a result of dispersed processes that occurred in education in the seventies, and increasing demand of highly skilled professionals outside Republic’s capital. Since 1994 it carries the name of the great Slavic educator St. Kliment Ohridski. Following higher educational institutions and scientific-research organizations are working as part of this University:

Technical Faculty – Bitola Economical Faculty – Prilep Faculty of Tourism and Leisure management – Ohrid Teachers Faculty – Bitola Faculty of biotechnological sciences – Bitola Medical college – Bitola Tobacco institute – Prilep Hydro-biological institute – Ohrid Slavic cultural institute – Prilep

Institutions that are part of the university are located in Bitola, Ohrid and Prilep, but the headquarters are in Bitola. University with its additions in development of higher education and scientific thought has succeeded to establish itself, accomplishing permanent cooperation with University of “St. Cyril and Methodius” from Skopje and with other universities from Balkan and European countries.

The Science Society is another active institution in Bitola. There is a large number of cultural institutions as well. The best known among them is the Bitola Theater, which has won the highest theater accolades at many festivals in the country and abroad. The Art Gallery and a number of cultural and artistic associations have recorded a continuously upward line of activity. Bitola also hosts the international art event entitled 'Small Bitola Monmartre' and the Interfest festival of classical music. The 'llinden Days' folk music festival is another event held there each year. Bitola nowadays is turning into the second diplomatic center of Macedonia. France, Turkey and Italy have already opened consulates there.

External links

• Bitola Municipality Official Page
• Radio Stari Kraj Macedonia
• Bitola Babam Bitola

• Cities in the Republic of Macedonia