Bitola

Heraclea Lyncestis, Macedonia

Bitola, Serbo-Croatian Bitolj, Turkish Monastir, southernmost city of North Macedonia. It lies on the Dragor River at an elevation of 2,019 feet (615 metres) at the western edge of the Bitola Plain, a few miles from the Greek frontier. Near the Greek-founded settlement Heraclea Lyncestis, later a Roman city, it was invaded by Slavic tribes in the 5th and 6th centuries and thereafter declined. The Monastery of Obitelj (still visible) played an important role in the community until the city was taken by the Turks and became a thriving cosmopolitan city of commercial and military importance. There were 60 mosques in the city, of which 12 remain. In the Balkan Wars (1912–13) Bitola was taken by the Serbs, cutting off the city from a 500-year Muslim history. World War II brought a further decline in economic activity and in population; its Jewish community was wiped out.

After World War II, Bitola became an important Macedonian centre. It has good transportation links to Skopje and into Greece. The fertile plain supports cereals, industrial crops (notably tobacco), and animal husbandry. Industrial activity includes sugar refining, leather craft, and the manufacture of textiles, carpets, and refrigeration equipment. A thermal power plant in Bitola provides much of the electricity for North Macedonia, especially the resort areas of Lakes Ohrid and Prespa. Ten miles (16 km) north of Bitola is the great circular necropolis of Vissovi, comparable to the ancient centre of Mycenae, in Crete. Pop. (2002) 86,408; (2020 est.) 70,470.