Day 01
Bitola Walking Tour from Heraclea Lyncestis to the Old Bazaar
- Meet your tour guide and begin your 3-hour tour at the archaeological site of Heraclea Lyncestis, just outside today's city centre.
- Later, continue to today's City Museum, housed in a building dating from 1848. Bitola's museum is proud of its collection and thousands of exhibits of enormous cultural and historical significance. Originally, this building was one of the most respected military high schools in the Balkans during the late Ottoman period, and it served that role until 1909. One of the hundreds of students who studied and lived here was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (1896-1899), the father of modern Turkey. That is why one of the museum's two permanent exhibitions is dedicated to him and his life.
- Proceed to Shirok Sokak, Bitola's version of the Parisian Champs Elysees. This main pedestrian street is probably the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning the city.
- Before entering the Old Bazaar, see its unique architecture, the Clock Tower, the symbol of Bitola, the Catholic Church "Sacred Heart of Jesus," St. Dimitrij Church, the Ishak Çelebi Mosque, and the House of Culture.
- Stroll through the Old Bazaar. During the 19th century, Bitola was at its peak as the second-largest city in the European part of the Ottoman Empire, after Thessaloniki, and a vital trading centre with more than 2,000 stores, most of them located in the Old Bazaar. Caravans carrying a wide variety of goods arrived in Bitola from all directions and departed again for other major centres of that period. Unfortunately, many fires, especially during the First World War, were fatal for what had once been one of the biggest open markets in Europe. Today, the Old Bazaar remains very popular and is usually crowded and full of people during the day.
- Before heading to the open market to see, feel, and smell its offerings, stop at a source of local pride: the art studio and colony known as the Small Montmartre of Bitola.
