Bitola is a grand old city that still bears the marks of its turn-of-the-century importance as a center for diplomacy – while also exemplifying the country’s time-honored cafe culture. Bitola is nicknamed “city of consuls” and is the second largest city in the Republic of Macedonia, with a population of nearly 100,000. Near the border with Greece, it straddles the Dragor River at the foot of Mount Pelister, in the Baba mountains range.
Bitola is quite nice, and it is favourite city to the Macedonians, since it has most European atmosphere. It was a seat of consuls in the 19th century and with them they brought the European culture and influenced the local aristocracy, who started living in European fashon and building their houses in mixed neo-clasical styles. Bitola is a nice place to visit since Pelister National Park is close, the ancient city of Heraklea is there, it has nice Ottoman architecture and 19th century romantic architecture, so some good examples of everything. It can all be done in a day including enjoying coffee on Shirok Sokak, but you have to put aside a separate day for Pelister National Park.
There are important metal artifacts from the ancient period, from the necropolis of Crkvishte near the village of Beranci. Heraclea Lyncestis - City of Hercules upon the Land of the Lynx) is an important settlement from the Hellenistic period till the Middle Ages. It was founded by Philip II of Macedon by the middle of the 4th century BC, and named after the Greek demigod Heracles, whom Philip considered his ancestor. As an important strategic point it became a prosperous city. The Romans conquered this part of Macedon in 148 BC and destroyed the political power of the city. The prosperity continued mainly due to the Roman Via Egnatia road which passed near the city. Several monuments from the Roman times remain in Heraclea, including a portico, thermae (baths), an amphitheater and a number of basilicas. The theatre was once capable to house around 3,000 people.
PLACE TO VISIT
Old Bazaar – even though it is smaller than the one in Skopje, the bazaar in Bitola is cleaner and much more taken care of, so it is the most beautiful old bazaar in Macedonia. It has pleasant small squares with water fountains and many Ottoman monuments in and around it. A large portion of the old bazaar was demolished in the 1950’s for the city square to be built. Fortunately the main monuments were left standing.
Deboj Amam Turkish Bath built in the 17th century.
Bezisten Built the 16th century, but later reconstructed in neo-baroque style and the city market.
Jeni Mosque Built in 1558 by Kadi Mahmud Efendi, the diameter of the dome is 19 meters, and the minaret is 39 meters high. This mosque houses the city art galery.
Isak Beg Mosque - built in 1508 by judge Isak Celebi Ibni Asa, the diameter of the dome is 26 meters, and the minaret is 45 meters high.
Clock Tower The clock tower is the pride of the people from Bitola. It was first built in 1664 but got its present appearance in the 19th century, and is 30 meters high.
The Ajdar Kadi Mosque 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 Sinn Mimar, ordered by the Bitola kadija Ajdar-kadu. 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.
Shirok Sokak Street A pedestrian street lined with nice colorful romantic and neo-clasical buildings. It is devided it three parts and even though the first part has the best preserved buildings it is worth walking all the way to the end. The street is very lively and lined with cafes who are excelent for relaxing and people watching, especially since the girls from Bitola are known as the most beautiful in Macedonia and they love to parade up and down the street dressed in their sunday best. In the first section check out the Catholic Cathedral. Shirok Sokak ends with the old barracks where the military academy where Ataturk studied was situated and today serves as the city museum. Opposite of it stands ball hall. Across the street as a continuance of Shirok Sokak the City Park stands, where the old Sokolana (physical education building) for the students of the former military academy is situated. For more nice houses walk in the streets left of Shirok Sokak, especially Duro Dakovik Street and see the building of the Bitola eparchy and visit:
St. Bogorodica Church A small basilica church built in 1870. This church is a triple flight church with an octagonal cupola on the west side. Under the west entry (door) there is a magnificent iconostasis made by a master woodcarver from Mijak.
The Consulates The consulates were probably the most beautiful houses in Bitola, and they are all situated in a half circle around the first section of Shirok Sokak, on the streets Leninova, Kiril and Metoi and 11 Oktomvri. On Leninova Street check out the Russian consulate and the old theological high school. On Kiril and Metodi Street are the British, the Serbian, the French, the Greek and the Austrian consulates (I don’t know where the Italian, the Bulgarian and American consulate stand). Most interesting is the British consulate, which was the first one to be built and is a combination of traditional architecture and neo-clasical decorations.
St. Dimitrie Church, 11 Oktomvri Street. Is the cathedral church of the city and the most beautiful example of the socalled “revival period” churches in Macedonia. Turks didn’t allow building of new churches during their occupation, but as the empire was weakening in the 18th century they started giving permissions for building of churches to keep the population happy. There were many rules to be followed like the exterior had to be without decorations and the floor of the church had to be at least one meter below the ground so the church wouldn’t dominate the skyline of the city. It was built in 1830, as a three naved basilica with galleries and five chapels. While they had to keep the exterior modest the enterior is lavishly decorated with woodwork. The huge icon screen was made in 1845.
Along the Dragor River Many nice buildings can be seen on a walk along the quay of Dragor river, including Josip Broz Tito High School and the building of the dean of Bitola University.
Heraklea Heraklea Linkestis was founded by the Macedonian King Phillip II in the middle of the 4th century BC, but most of the monument that can be seen here are from the Roman and the early christian period. Just small portion of the city has been unearthed, including a theatre, two water fountains, courthouse, baths, bishops palace and two basilicas. What the site is famous for are the mosaics of the big basilica made in the 5th c. The floor mosaic in the narthex is the most complete presentation of the world as they understood it back then. In the centre of a rectangular field there is a fountain out of which vine grape comes out (as a symbol of Christ teachings) and peacocks and deer are gathered around (as symbol of eternal life), meaning if you accept the teaching of Christ you’ll have eternal life. On the left and on the right there are 5 trees on each side rich with fruits with birds flying around (representing the garden of Eden and the afterlife), and a huge red dog called Kerber is guarding the entrance. Below the trees animals like deers are presented attacked and eaten by wild animals (presenting the suffering of the Christian soul in the earth life). The field is surrounded by water with medallions in which 28 water animals are presented. The mosaic has been made with little stones in 27 different colours (the only “richer” mosaic is found in Pompeii, it is a wall mosaic made of stones in 32 colors). There is a small museum on the grounds with few artifacts and a nice scale model of the city at its peak. The entrance in the museum is included in the ticket for the site.
WHAT TO DO
Internation Film Camera Festival - the festival is a member of the ECFF/European Coordination of the film festivals and has precious collaboration with it. The main part of the festival's programme belongs to “CAMERA 300” - Official Competition of Long Feature Films from the most recent European and world production, whose Directors of Photography contend for the Golden, Silver and Bronze "CAMERA 300", awarded by the festival's International Jury.
Interfest - an international festival of classical music, held 2-12 October every year. In 2006, the festival celebrated its 14th anniversary. The 10-day festival gathers prominent musicians and renowned soloists from all European cultural centres.
HOW TO REACH
Even though Bitola and Florina in Greece are very close to each other, there is no direct connection between them. One has to get a taxi, which could cost up to 15-20 Euros.
By train - There are couple of trains connecting Bitola and Skopje that stop in Prilep and Veles.
By bus - There are (more or less) a dozen of buses between Bitola and Skopje (3 hours) that stop in Prilep and Veles, a couple of buses connecting Bitola and Ohrid (1,5 hours) that stop in Resen.
