Bitola and Heraclea: the back story

About Bitola and Heraclea: the back story

By the ULTIMATE Skopje Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Bitola, the country’s second city, lies on the Pelagonian plain below Mount Pelister. In the late Ottoman era it was a busy trading city with many foreign consulates, and its elegant main street still has the air of that time.

The city of consuls

In the 19th and early 20th centuries Bitola was one of the most important cities of the Ottoman Balkans, with consulates from many European countries. Merchants built fine houses with neoclassical façades, many of which line the main street today.

Širok Sokak

Širok Sokak, “the wide street”, is Bitola’s pedestrian heart, lined with cafés and pastel façades. In the evening everyone seems to be out walking it, from the square with the clock tower to the city park.

In Bitola, the evening stroll is an art.

Heraclea Lyncestis

Just south of the centre, Heraclea Lyncestis was founded in the 4th century BC by Philip II of Macedon. It flourished under Rome and in early Christian times; its theatre, baths and basilicas survive, and the mosaic floors of the Great Basilica, with animals and trees of paradise, are among the finest in the region.

Pelister

Mount Pelister rises above the town. Pelister National Park, founded in 1948, is the oldest in the country, known for the five-needled Molika pine and the glacial lakes called the Mountain’s Eyes.

Festivals

Each autumn Bitola hosts the Manaki Brothers International Film Festival, named after the pioneers of Balkan cinema who worked here, and devoted to the art of cinematography.

Our advice: arrive in time for the evening walk on Širok Sokak, visit Heraclea in the morning light, and if you have a second day, hike in Pelister. Bitola combines well with Ohrid, about an hour away.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Bitola and Heraclea: the back story before you go.