Building of the National Institution Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Museum Bitola

• Name of the facility: Building of the National Institution Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and Museum Bitola
• Period/dating: the middle of the 19th century
• Material/technique: The foundations of the building are made of stone, while the walls are made of bricks, and the interconnected structure is made of reinforced concrete
• Dimensions: 80x46m and height of about 10 meters (to the girdle)

Short story (description):

The former building of the barracks Stiv Naumov in Bitola today is a NI Institute and Museum located at the end of the pedestrian zone which starts from the Old Bitola Bazaar and leads along to the Sirok Sokak and continues to the city promenade and the archaeological site Heraclea.

The building was erected as a military school in 1848 when the city was a military, administrative, political and commercial center of European Turkey.
In 1900, with the relocation of the military academy from Constantinople to Bitola, this building became the seat of the military academy, and it has the same allocation until 1909. Many prominent figures were educated here, such as Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, founder and first president of modern Turkey, then Niyazi Bey, leader of the Young Turk Revolution of 1908. Another prominent professor who worked here, happens to be Tefic Bay who wrote the book “History of the city of Bitola”. From the period of the Balkan Wars until 1974, the building was used as a military barracks, and since 1976 it has been the seat of the Institute and Museum.
According to its historical and architectural aesthetic values, it is protected cultural good, and in architectural sense, it represents a synthesis of Western European and Oriental architecture. The simple and calm neo-Renaissance style of the facades is complemented by the oriental stylistic elements of the windows, entrances and the attic. This building has an emphasized entrance part with a beautiful wooden door, and to the left and to the right of this door there are four marble pillars standing. Above the front door, there is also a marble relief that is painted with an Arabic inscription that has an approximate width of the door. The balcony of this building is supported by wrought iron consoles from which the fence is made. On the floor, as well as on the ground floor, the windows are symmetrically arranged with window-shaped girdles richly profiled as those on the balcony door, and above it, there is an attic with a built-in marble plate with fine-cut floral motifs. On both sides of the balcony door, there are pilasters that mimic stone blocks with an emphasized horizontal division.
Today within the museum there is a room of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and a permanent museum exhibition, also various cultural events are held throughout the year.

• The project “Increased accessibility and improved interpretation of NI Institute and museum Bitola” was implemented with the support of the Headley Trust UK through the project of the Balkan Museum Network “Stories of the Balkans”.