Bitola (redirected from Manastir)

Bitola (bē`tôlə), formerly Monastir, city (1994 pop. 86,176), S Macedonia. It is a commercial and industrial center for the surrounding agricultural area. Bitola was a major agricultural center in Roman times. Later settled by Slavs, it became a bishopric in the 11th cent. In 1395 the Turks conquered Bitola, which became an important military and commercial center in the 15th and 16th cent. The city suffered much damage during the Balkan Wars (during which the Serbs took it from the Turks) and in World War I. Bitola is noted for its numerous mosques, churches, and a former Turkish market.

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Bitolj, Bitola

a city in SW Macedonia: under Turkish rule from 1382 until 1913 when it was taken by the Serbs. Pop.: 77 000 (2005 est.)

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Bitola 

(Macedonian; Serbo-Croatian, Bitolj; among the Turks, Monastir), a city in Yugoslavia in southwestern Macedonia, in the Bitolj-Prilep mountain valley. Population, 55,000 (1965). It is a transportation junction. Its major industries are metal works; textiles, mostly cotton and silk; leather, food, and tobacco enterprises; and rug weaving.