Last modified: 2009-02-28 by ivan sache
Keywords: bitola | bistrica | kukurecani | capari | sun: 8 rays (yellow) | sun: 13 rays (yellow) | pine |
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![[Flag of Bitola]](../images/m/mk-bito.gif)
Flag of Bitola - Image by Jovan Jonovski, 23 March 2006
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The municipality of Bitola (95,385 inhabitants; 787.95 sq. km.) is made of the town of Bitola and the 65 settlements of Barešani, Bistrica, Bratin Dol, Brusnik, Bukovo, Belušina, Gabalavce, Gopeš, Gorno Egri, Gorno Orizari, Graešinka, Dihovo, Dolenci, Dobro Egri, Dobro Orizari, Dragarino, Dragožani, Dragoš, Drevenik, Đavato, Žabeni, Zpokukjani, Kažani, Kanino, Karamani, Kišava, Kravari, Krkpino, Kremenica, Krstoar, Kukurečani, Lavci, Lažec, Lera, Lisolaj, Logovardi, Lopatica, Magarevo, Malovište, Metimir, Medžitpija, Nižepole, Novo Zmirnovo, Oblakovo, Oleveni, Optičari, Orehovo, Ostrec, Poeševo, Porodin, Ramna, Raštani, Rotino, Svinište, Sekirani, Snegovo, Sredno Egri, Srpči, Staro Zmirnovo, Streževo, Trn, Trnovo, Capari, Crnobuki and Crnovec.
The town of Bitola (86,176 inhabitants, therefore the second biggest
town of the country after Skopje) is located in the south-west of
Macedonia, close to the border with Greece. The town was built at an
elevation of 580-660 a.s.l. on the banks of the river Dragor in the
Pelagonia valley, which is surrounded by the Baba and Nidzhe mountains.
The Baba mountains and their highest point, Pelister (2,601 m) were
made the first national park in former Yugoslavia in 1948.
The city of Heraclea Lyncestis was built by King Philip II of Macedonia
in 359 BC around an acropolis set up on the top of a hill. Macedonia,
conquered in 168 BC, became a Roman province in 148 BC; Heraclea was
made the capital of one of the four districts set up by Rome, with
a permanent regent and garrison. The town was used as a supply depot by
Caesar during the Civil Wars and later granted the title of colony: in
the beginning of the 3rd century AD, it was known as Septima Aurelia
Heraclea. Located on the Via Egnatia, which connected the Adriatic and
Aegean coasts, Heraclea was a flourishing town with several big
monuments (forum, theater...) mostly built under the Antonian emperors.
When the Barbarians started to threat the town, it was surrounded with
walls. The Christian religion was established very early in Heraclea,
which had two basilicas. In the late 6th century-early 7th century,
the Avars and the Slavs invaded the region, causing the decline of
Heraclea.
In the second half of the 6th century, the Slavic Dragoviti tribe
settled around the today's site of Bitola, closed to Heraclea. They
moved again southwards and abandoned the area to the Brsjaci tribe. The
Christian religion thrived and there were some 70 churches and
monasteries in Bitola. The Macedonian writer Cepenko called Bitola "The
Holy Mountain of Macedonia". Bitola was then part of a kingdom ruled by Samoil; his son Gavril Radomir built a castle in Bitola, where he exerted his power. The Byzantine historian Jovan
Skulica (11th century) describes in his "Short History" the invasion of
Pelagonia and the destruction of Gavrilo's castle in Bitola by Emperor
Basil II (963-1025). Basil II's Gramota, dated 1019, prescribes the
rights of the Archbishop of Ohrid and lists the local bishoprics,
including Bitola. In the western sources, Bitola was still known as
Heraclea and the Bishopric of Bitola as Pelagonia. In the 14th
century, Bitola was a trade town, that had developed links with all the
main economic centers of the Balkan (Constantinople, Salonica,
Dubrovnik...)
In 1382-1383, the Ottomans conquered Bitola, Evronos Bey was appointed Governor of the town by Sultan Murat I (1359-1389), and Bitola was
transformed in a military headquarter. The Turks settled near river
Dragor, where they built mosques, monasteries, schools and baths. A
Turkish census dated 1468 gives for the town a population of 2,345,
with six Muslim boroughs and one Christian. The input of Jews expelled
from Portugal and Spain (1481-1528) significantly contributed to the
economic development of the town, that lived from agriculture, weapon
and armor manufacturing and cotton. Craftsmen's guilds (esnafi) were
set up as it occurred in most Ottoman towns at that time, and trade
relationships were established with several towns. Most historical
buildings still visible in Bitola were built in the 16th century: Isak
Celebi mosque (1516), Hadzi Bey (1521), Jeni mosque (1558), Gazi
Hajdar (1562)... In the next century, Bitola remained aside from the
decline of the Ottoman Empire.
In the beginning of the 19th century, industrialization and modern
capitalism were introduced in Bitola. The Ottoman feudal administrative
system was suppressed in 1830. The next year, Bitola became the capital
of the Vilayet of Rumelia and therefore of European Turkey and a
garrison of 30,000 was then stationed in the city. Economical
connections with London, Vienna, Belgrade, Salonica, Constantinople,
Alexandria... were maintained by the great trader's families (Ikonomot,
Robevi, Geras, Danabash, Rizovi...), who progressively transformed
Bitola in a modern European town. At the end of the 19th century, the
town had 17 boroughs and some 30 special markets (for horses, sheep,
grains, cream, jam...) and craftmen's gatherings. In 1851, Austria
opened a consulate in Bitola, followed by Britain (1851), France
(1854), Russia (1861), Greece (1865), Serbia (1888), Romania (1895),
Italy (1895) and Bulgaria (1897). Bitola was then known as "The Town of
the Consulates". Bitola progressively turned from an Ottoman traders'
town to a modern European town, and emancipation ideals started to
spread among its inhabitants.
A committee of the VMRO (Interior Macedonian Revolutionary
Organization) was located in Bitola and significantly contributed to
the set up of the Ilinden Uprising against the Ottomans in 1903. The
uprising was suppressed after ten days but proved that the Ottoman
Empire was weaker and weaker. Gorgi Sugarev (1876-1905), from Bitola,
took part to the Ilinden events and carried on the fight against the
Ottomans; he committed suicide in the village of Paralovo to avoid
being captured. His brother in arms Dimce Mogilceto (1879-1908) did the
same near the village of Nospal. Dame Gruev (1871-1906) was the
organizer of the resistance in the region of Bitola; he was killed in a
battle with the Ottomans. Aleksandar Turundjev (1872-1905), executed in
public in Bitola, is considered as one of the main Macedonian heroes
and is recalled by several folk songs.
The local population supported the Young Turks revolt in 1908 and the
town was liberated from the Turkish rule the same year. The town was
severely damaged during the Balkan Wars (1912-1913), especially in the
battle of Bitola fought between the Serbs and Turks. In 1913, the
treaty of Bucarest split Macedonia into four parts and Bitola was
allocated to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. During the
First World war, the town was seized by Bulgaria in 1915 and taken over
by the Franco-Serbian forces in November 1916. In the next two years,
Bitola and the neighbouring villages were continuously bombed by the
German-Bulgarian troops during a 675-day blockade. The population of
the town was divided by one half.
Bitola was the first city in the former Yugoslavia that was attacked
during the Second World War, being bombed by Italian planes on 5
November 1940. Fascist Italy attacked Yugoslavia in April 1941 and
Yugoslavia capitulated after a few seeks. Macedonia was split again
among Bulgaria, Germany, Italy and Albania. Bitola became the
administrative center of the Bulgarian sector. In the beginning of
1942, the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the Communist Party of
Macedonia started the partisan's fight. Several inhabitants of Bitola
joined the Macedonian battalion Mirche Acev and attacked the Bulgarian
forces in 1943-1944 around Bitola. In 1942, 3,864 Jews from Bitola were
deported by the Germans. Bitola was liberated on 4 November 1944.
Sources:
Ivan Sache, 10 June 2006
The municipal flag of Bitola, adopted by the Municipal Council on 21 March 2006, is white with the municipal coat of arms in the middle.
Valentin Popovski & Jovan Jonovski, 23 March 2006
![[Flag of Bistrica]](../images/m/mk-bist.gif)
Flag of Bistrica - Image by Mello Luchtenberg & António Martins, 16 September 2006
There are several places called Bistrica all over the Slavic world
(the name means approximately "clear spring"), for instance Bistrica ob Sotli in Slovenia, Marija Bistrica and Zlatar Bistrica in Croatia, Banská Bystrica in Slovakia, and Bystrice in Czech Republic.
The small town of Bistrica (5,779 inhabitants in 1994), located south of Bitola, was incorporated into the municipality of Bitola in 2004.
The flag of Bistrica, as shown on the Macedonian Ministry of Local Self-Government website (page no longer online), is in proportions 1:2, red with the Macedonian national flag, in proportions 3:5, in canton.
Željko Heimer & Ivan Sache, 10 June 2006
![[Flag of Kukurecani]](../images/m/mk-kuku.gif)
Flag of Kukurečani - Image by Mello Luchtenberg & António Martins, 11 November 2006
The municipality of Kukurečani (2,859 inhabitants in 1994), located some 10 km north of Bitola, was incorporated into the municipality of Bitola in 2004.
The flag of Kukurečani, as shown on the Macedonian Ministry of Local
Self-Government website (page no longer online), is in proportions 1:2, horizontally divided yellow-red, with the municipal emblem in the middle.
The emblem shows a sun in which cereal spikes replace the rays. There
are scrolls above and below the sun.
The emblem might be canting, since the place name is derived from
the Macedonian word for maize. The inscription on the scrolls of the
emblem reads ОПШТИНА (Municipality) above and the name of the town below.
Željko Heimer & Ivan Sache, 10 June 2006
![[Flag of Capari]](../images/m/mk-capa.gif)
Flag of Capari - Image by Mello Luchtenberg & António Martins, 1 October 2006
The municipality of Capari (1,793 inhabitants in 1994), located 15 km west of Bitola, was incorporated into the municipality of Bitola in 2004.
The flag of Capari, as shown on the Macedonian Ministry of Local
Self-Government website (page no longer online), is in proportions 1:2, with seven red-black-red-black-red-black-red stripes and a red canton charged with the municipal shield.
The inscription in Cyrillic in the chief of the shield reads ОПШТИНА ЦАПАРІ, Municipality of Capari.
According to the International Civic Heraldry website, the mountain shown on the municipal shield is the Pelister, whereas the tree is the Molika pine (Pinus peuce Griseb.) aka Macedonian pine or Balkan pine, a five-needled pine tree endemic to some parts of the Balkan (and therefore growing nowhere else in the wild). The triangular building on the coat of arms is Hotel Molika, "the Perl of Pelister National Park".
Željko Heimer & Ivan Sache, 1 October 2006
University "St. Kliment Ohridski" (St. Clement of Ohrid) was founded in 1979 in Bitola. Today it has nine faculties and one higher vocational school. The
structure of the University also consists of three scientific institutes. It caters about 13,000 students.
The flag of the University is a rectangular golden flag with the university emblem, designed by Simeon Siljanovski, on it.
Valentin Poposki, 29 November 2008