Bitola - Definition and Overview

Bitola (Cyrillic Битола, Turkish Manastır, Greek Monastir, Serbian Bitolj/Битољ) is a city in the present day Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. As Heraclea Lyncestis, founded by Philip II of Macedon, it was a major city during the Roman Empire, lying on the Via Egnatia. Later it was settled by slavic peoples and in 1395 it was conquered by Ottoman Empire, which made the city a major military and commercial center. It later became the terminus of a major railway line and the largest city in western Macedonia.

During the First Balkan War of 1912, both Greece and Serbia attacked Monastir in a pincer movement. Serbia won the race to Monastir, apparently because the Greeks diverted much of their army to the capture of Thessaloniki and Ioannina. In 1917, the city suffered extensive damage from an allied artillery barrage.

The city was subsequently renamed Bitola by the Serbs, a name that it retained following the independence of the Republic of Macedonia.