Bitola Museum

Historical museum located in the southern part of North Macedonia. Located in a military school built during the Ottoman period, the museum is dedicated to show the development of the region, from its incorporation into the Roman Empire to the creation of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.

Bitola Museum
Official Photo of the Museum
Type:	Historical Museum
Country:	North Macedonia
Establishment:	1985

The Bitola Museum (Macedonian: Музеј Битола) is a historical museum located in the southern part of North Macedonia. Located in a military school built during the Ottoman period, the museum is dedicated to show the development of the region, from its incorporation into the Roman Empire to the creation of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia.

History

The building of neo-Renaissance style character was built in 1848, also known as the Old Barracks (Macedonian: Стара касарна), to serve as an Idadie (Macedonian: Идадие), also known as imperial otaman schools, for the forces of the empire.^[1]

In the 1960s, the museum was commissioned to document and catalog the objects found in the Roman Theater of Heraclea Lyncestis (Macedonian: Хераклеја Линкестис ; Greek: Ηράκλεια Λυγκηστίς).^[2] When North Macedonia used to be part of Yugoslavia, the Archaeological Society of SR Macedonia (Macedonian: Археолошкото друштво на СР Македонија), organized an exhibition in the museum of Bitola with the intention of showing Ancient Christian Mosaics found in archaeological sites of Yugoslavia.^[3]

In October 2023, the reconstruction of the museum's courtyard containing 15 sculptures made of marble found at archaeological sites in the country such as Heraclea Lincestis was completed through funding from the European Union and the Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia.^[4]

Collections

The museum has a room dedicated to showing the influence of Turkish civilization in Bitola, including a memorial dedicated to Mustafa Kermal Ataturk, founder of the modern Turkish Republic, who studied in the city for a few years. Additionally the museum is responsible for two cultural institutions in the southern region of North Macedonia, which are the Albanian Alphabet Museum (Macedonian: Музеј на албанската азбука ; Albanian: Muzeu i Kongresit të Manastirit), located in Bitola, dedicated to show the development of the writing system used by the Albanian community in the country, and finally, the Tatarcev Memorial House in Resen.^[5]

Gallery

Macedonian national costume (2022) - Photo by Vladimir Krinichev

Cash Register dating from the 20th century used in a pharmacy (2023) - Photo by Sedat Boğatemür

Paintings found in several historic churches in North Macedonia (2023) - Photo by Nn

Photographic equipment used to capture images in Bitola during the 20th century (2023) - Photo by Yağmur Yılmaz

References

1. НУ „Завод и музеј“—Битола. (2020-10-30). Cineculture. (in Macedonian)

2. Makedonija: Ilustrirano spisanie na Maticata na iselenicite od Makedonija. (1992) Maticata. (Page 27) (in Macedonian)

3. Plesničar-Gec, L., Babić, B., Arheološko društvo na SR Makedonija, & Zavod za zaštita na spomenicite na kulturata, prirodnite retkosti i muzej--Bitola (Eds.). (1980). Ranohris̆ćanski mozaici u Jugoslaviji: Bitola 1978. Arheološko društvo na SR Makedonija, Zavod za zaštita na spomenicite na kulturata, prirodnite retkosti i muzej--Bitola, Savez arheoloških društava Jugoslavije. (Page 8) (in Macedonian)

4. Промовирано реконструираното Пацио во Завод и музеј Битола (фотогалерија). (2023-11-19). Bitola News. (in Macedonian)

5. Altnurme, R., Arigita, E., & Pasture, P. (2022). Religious Diversity in Europe: Mediating the Past to the Young. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN: 9781350198609