From Wikitravel

Bitola nicknamed “city of consuls” is the second largest city in the Republic of Macedonia (pop. 95385 (Bitola county) in 2002; 88,7% Macedonians, 4,37% Albanians, 1,7% Turks, 2,74% Roma, 1,33% Vlach); near the border with Greece, straddling the River Dragor at the foot of Mt Pelister, in the Baba mountains. The centre is pleasant, but the rest of the city is rather dirty and poor. The major tourist attraction is Heraklea, said to have been founded by Phillip of Macedon. It is situated about 5km outside the city centre and a return taxi ride will cost about €2.

Contents 1 Understand 1.1 History 1.2 Climate 2 Get in 2.1 By train 2.2 By bus 3 Get around 4 See 5 Do 6 Buy 7 Eat 8 Drink 9 Sleep 10 Get out

Understand

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 fashion and building their houses in mixed neoclassical 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.

History

The history of Bitola starts with the founding of Heraklea Linkestis by the Macedonian King Phillip II, in the middle of the 4th c. BC. The city was conquered by the Romans in 168 BC and developed as an important centre on the Via Egnacia road connecting the Adriatic and the Black Sea. After the 6th century the city moved on the shores of Dragor river and got its present day name. There are little remains from the middle ages, but when the Turks conquered the city in 1382 it was a rich city concentrated around a big monastery, so they named it Monastir. During Turkish rule it developed as a trading centre and the Turkish travel writer Evlija Celebija who visited Bitola in the middle of the 17th c. wrote that were 900 shops, 40 cafes, a bedesten, 70 mosques, a number of medreses (theological school) and a law school. In the beginning of the 19th c, a large number of Vlahs from the Janina region in Greece settled in the city. The 19th century the city was at its pick being the second biggest city in the European part of the Ottoman empire and a important trading centre with over 2000 stores with goods from Vienna, Paris, Leipzig and London. 12 consulates were opened in the city and the consuls brought the western influences with them. Towards the end of the 19th c. in Bitola military academy studied Atatutk, the father of the Turkish Nation. A lot for the city was done by Abdul Pasha Kerim who was governor of the city (1896-1902) and for just 6 years finished the drainage system, built the quays of Dragor river and the city park, built the theatre and the ball hall. In Bitola lived and worked Milton Manaki who in 1905 brought the first camera in the Balkans and made the first movies. After the Balkan wars in 1913 when Serbia occupied present day Macedonia, Bitola lost its importance to Skopje which was named capital of the province.

Climate

During the winter the temperatures can drop a lot in Bitola down to –30 degrees C, on the other hand Bitola has very hot summers.

Get in

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 (3,5 hours) that stop in Prilep and Veles, a couple of buses connecting Bitola and Ohrid (1,5 hours) that stop in Resen.

Get around

Walking is the easiest way to get around Bitola as all the sites are in a line one after another, first the old bazaar, then the city square, then Shirok Sokak street, then the city park and last the ancient city of Heraklea. The bus station and the train station are near the end of the city park.

See

• 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, like: Deboj hamam (Turkish bath) built in the 17th c, Ajdar Kadi Moosque, built in 1561, designed by the famous Turkish architect Mimar Sinan (unfortunately in a very bad condition), the bedesten built 16th c, but later reconstructed in neo-baroque style and the city market. 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 including Jeni Mosque built in 1558 by Kadi Mahmud Efendi (the diameter of the dome is 19 meters, and the minaret is 39 meters high), which houses the city art gallery, and 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). The pride of people from Bitola is the Clock Tower first built in 1664 but got its present appearance in the 19th c, and is 30 meters high.
• Shirok Sokak Street – it is a pedestrian street lined with nice colorful romantic and neoclassical buildings. It is divided 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 excellent 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. The first house of the second section is the house where a girl named Elena lived. Ataturk fell in love with, kidnapped her and took her to his mothers house in Thessaloniki. His mother coming from a mixed marriage herself persuaded him to take her back. Shirok Sokak ends with the old baraks where the military academy where Ataturk studied was situated and today serves as the city museum. Opposite of it stands the ball hall. Across the street as a continuance of Shirok Sokak the city park stats, 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 (19th c)
• 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 neoclassical decorations.
• St. Dimitrie Church – on 11 Oktomvri St. is the cathedral church of the city and the most beautiful example of the so-called “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 permission 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 interior is lavishly decorated with woodwork. The huge iconscreen was made in 1845.
• along river Dragor – many nice buildings can be seen on a walk along the quay of Dragor river, inc. 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 c. 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 deers 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 colours). There is a small museum on the grounds with few artefacts and a nice scale model of the city at its peak. The entrance in the museum is included in the ticket for the site.

Do

Buy

Eat

Bitola also has good selection of bars, pubs and restaurants with fair prices.

Drink

Sleep

Get out

• Pelister National Park

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