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112-643: The name (in the form Elbasan also in Aromanian ) is derived from the Ottoman Turkish il-basan ("the fortress"). In August 2010 archaeologists discovered two Illyrian graves near the walls of the castle of Elbasan. In the second century BC, a Roman trading post recorded in Latin as Mansio Scampa (also in Ancient Greek : Σκάμπα ) near the site of modern Elbasan developed close to

224-583: A Greek tribe belonging to the Molossian group of the Epirotes . There are important metal artifacts from the ancient period at the necropolis of Crkvište near the village of Beranci . A golden earring dating from the 4th century BC is depicted on the obverse of the Macedonian 10- denar banknote, issued in 1996. Heraclea Lyncestis ( Ancient Greek : Ἠράκλεια Λυγκηστίς - City of Hercules upon

336-466: A Greek influence. Other differences are the sound /ts/ , which corresponds to Romanian /tʃ/ , and the sounds: /ʎ/ and /ɲ/ , which exist only in local variants in Romanian. Aromanian is usually written with a version of the Latin script with an orthography that resembles both that of Albanian (in the use of digraphs such as dh , sh , and th ) and Italian (in its use of c and g ), along with

448-406: A Ta, s’yinã amirãria a Ta, si facã vrearea a Ta, cum tu tser, ashã sh'pisti loc. Pãnia a nostã, atsa di cathi dzuã, dãnu sh’azã, sh‘ yiartãni amartiili a nosti, ashe cum li yiãrtãm sh’noi a amãrtor a noci, sh’nu ni du la pirazmo, ma viagljãni di atsel rãu. Cã a Ta esti amirãria sh'puteria, a Tatãlui shi Hiljãlui shi a Ayiului Spirit, tora, totãna sh’tu eta a etilor. Amin. Tati

560-506: A Tatãlui shi Hiljãlui sh a Ayiului Duhu, tora, totna sh tu eta a etilor. Amen. The Macedonian Aromanian publicist, translator and writer Dina Cuvata  [ bg ; mk ] translated Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as follows: Tuti iatsãli umineshtsã s'fac liberi shi egali la nãmuzea shi ndrepturli. Eali suntu hãrziti cu fichiri shi sinidisi shi lipseashti un cu alantu sh si poartã tu duhlu

672-603: A common stage of all the Eastern Romance varieties. An important source of dissimilarity between Romanian and Aromanian is the adstratum languages (external influences); whereas Romanian has been influenced to a greater extent by the Slavic languages , Aromanian has been more influenced by Greek , with which it has been in close contact throughout its history. Aromanian is native to Albania , Bulgaria , Greece , North Macedonia , Romania and Serbia . In 2018, it

784-569: A deep moat and three gates. The name Elbasan is thought to mean 'the flat fortress' in Albanian or ‘the flat province’ in Turkish. He had built the castle in order to fight Skanderbeg , due to an ongoing conflict between the Ottomans and Albanians. It became the seat of Sanjak of Elbasan , a centre of Ottoman urban civilisation over the next 445 years. Although Halil Inalcik explains that

896-404: A etãlu. Amin. Tatã a nostu, tsi eshtsã tu tseru, s'ayiseascã numa a Ta, s'yinã amirãriljea a Ta, si facã vrearea a Ta, cumu tu tseru, ashi sh'pisti locu. Pãnea a nostã atsea di cathi dzuã dãnãu sh'adzã sh'yiartãnã amãrtiile a noasti ashi cum ilj yirtãmu sh'noi a amãrtoshloru a noshtsã. Sh'nu nã du tu pirazmo, Sh'aveagljinã di atsel arãulu. Cã a Ta easti Amirãriljia sh'putearea

1008-585: A frãtsãljiljei. The following text is given for comparison in Aromanian and in Romanian , with an English translation. The spelling of Aromanian is that decided at the Bitola Symposium of August 1997. The word choice in the Romanian version was such that it matches the Aromanian text, although in modern Romanian other words might have been more appropriate. The English translation is only provided as

1120-561: A guide to the meaning, with an attempt to keep the word order as close to the original as possible. Bitola Bitola ( / ˈ b iː t oʊ l ə , - t ə l ə / ; Macedonian : Битола [ˈbitɔɫa] ) is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia . It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba , Nidže , and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, 14 kilometres (9 miles) north of

1232-587: A junction of two branches of an important Roman road, the Via Egnatia , which connected the Adriatic coast with Byzantium . It was one of the most important routes of the Roman Empire . By the third or fourth century AD, this place had grown into a real city protected by a substantial Roman fortress with towers; the fort covered around 300 square meters. This city appears on late antique itineraries like

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1344-730: A military, political and religious center, Bitola played a very important role in the life of the medieval society in the region, prior to the Ottoman conquest in the mid-14th century. On the eve of the Ottoman conquest, Bitola (Monastir in Ottoman Turkish) experienced great growth with its well-established trading links all over the Balkan Peninsula, especially with big economic centers like Constantinople , Thessalonica , Ragusa and Tarnovo . Caravans carrying various goods came and went from Bitola. From 1382 to 1912, Bitola

1456-449: A national holiday being celebrated nationwide, in all Albania. Elbasan is twinned with: Elbasan also has cooperation and friendship relationships with: Aromanian language The Aromanian language (Aromanian: limba armãneascã , limba armãnã , armãneashti , armãneashte , armãneashci , armãneashce or limba rãmãneascã , limba rãmãnã , rrãmãneshti ), also known as Vlach or Macedo-Romanian ,

1568-478: A national minority. Aromanian, Daco-Romanian (Romanian), Istro-Romanian language , and Megleno-Romanian language are descendants of a proto-language called Common Romanian , itself descending from the Proto-Romance language . No later than the 10th century Common Romanian split into southern and northern dialects, and Aromanian and Romanian have developed differently from these two distinct dialects of

1680-416: A nost tsi esht tu tser, s’ayiãsiaste numa a Ta, s’zine amirãria a Ta, si fache vrera a Ta, cum tu tser, ashe sh'pisti loc. Penia a noste, atsa di cathi dzue, denu sh’aze, sh‘ yiartãni amartiãli a nosti, ashe cum li yiãrtem sh’noi a amãrtor a noci, sh’nu ni du la pirazmo, ma viagãni di atsel reu. Che a Ta esti amirãria sh'putera, al Tati shi al Hiyiu shi al Ayiu Duh, tora, totãna sh’tu eta

1792-680: A strong impetus mostly among people doing business in the cities. The Romanian state began opening schools for the Romanian-influenced Vlachs in the 1860s, but this initiative was regarded with suspicion by the Greeks, who thought that Romania was trying to assimilate them. 19th-century travellers in the Balkans such as W. M. Leake and Henry Fanshawe Tozer noted that Vlachs in the Pindus and Macedonia were bilingual, reserving

1904-434: Is a national park with exquisite flora and fauna, among which is the rarest species of pine, known as Macedonian pine or pinus peuce . It is also the location of a well-known ski resort. Covering an area of 1,798 km (694 sq mi) and with a population of 122,173 (1991), Bitola is an important industrial, agricultural, commercial, educational and cultural centre. It represents an important junction that connects

2016-599: Is a sensitive one, partly because of opposition within the Greek Vlachs community to actions leading to the introduction of the language into the education system, viewing it as an artificial distinction between them and other Greeks. For example, the former education minister, George Papandreou , received a negative response from Greek-Aromanian mayors and associations to his proposal for a trial Aromanian language education programme. The Panhellenic Federation of Cultural Associations of Vlachs expressed strong opposition to

2128-623: Is an Eastern Romance language , similar to Megleno-Romanian , Istro-Romanian and Romanian , spoken in Southeastern Europe . Its speakers are called Aromanians or Vlachs (a broader term and an exonym in widespread use to define Romance communities in the Balkans). Aromanian shares many features with modern Romanian , including similar morphology and syntax, as well as a large common vocabulary inherited from Latin . They are considered to have developed from Common Romanian ,

2240-622: Is an old monastery and orthodox church where notably Saint Jovan Vladimir was buried until 1995 when his remains were transferred to the Orthodox Cathedral in Tirana, being brought back to the monastery only for his feast days. Elbasan is home to the National Autocephalous Albanian Church ( Albanian : Kisha Autoqefale Kombetare ), a relatively new Orthodox Autocephalous church that split from

2352-587: Is due to the historical predominance of the Greek language in the region and the successive destruction of Aromanian books and documents throughout history. The oldest known written text in the language is an inscription from 1731 by Nektarios Terpos at the Ardenica Monastery , now in Albania. It is followed by the inscription of the so-called Simota Vase , dated to the first half of the 18th century. In

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2464-719: Is held in Bitola since 1979. In November 1905, the Secret Committee for the Liberation of Albania , a secret organization formed to fight for the liberation of Albania from the Ottoman Empire, was founded by Bajo Topulli and other Albanian nationalists and intellectuals. Three years later, the Congress of Manastir of 1908, which standardized the modern Albanian alphabet , was held in the city. The congress

2576-421: Is located in the center of the city. It has a square base, topped with a dome. Near the mosque is a minaret, 40 m high. Today, the mosque's rooms house permanent and temporary art exhibitions. Recent archaeological excavations have revealed that it has been built upon an old church. The Ishak Çelebi Mosque is the inheritance of the kadi Ishak Çelebi . In its spacious yard are several tombs, attractive because of

2688-448: Is not standardized . However, there have been some efforts to do so. Notable examples include those of Matilda Caragiu Marioțeanu , Tiberius Cunia  [ bg ; ro ; roa-rup ] and Iancu Ballamaci. Aromanian exhibits several differences from standard Romanian in its phonology, some of which are probably due to influence from Greek or Albanian. It has spirants that do not exist in Romanian, such as /θ, ð, x, ɣ/ and which are

2800-412: Is not known when exactly it was constructed. At one point, it was heavily damaged, but after repairs it regained its original appearance: a façade with two large domes and several minor ones. Bitola is the economic and industrial center of southwestern North Macedonia. Many of the largest companies in the country are based in the city. The Pelagonia agricultural combine is the largest producer of food in

2912-495: Is taught as a subject in some primary schools. In North Macedonia, Aromanian-speakers also have the right to use the language in court proceedings. Since 2006, Aromanian has had the status of a second official municipal language in the city of Kruševo , the only place where Aromanian has any kind of official status apart from general state recognition. Apart from North Macedonia, the Aromanians are also recognized in Albania as

3024-561: Is the Albanian name ( Manastir ), and the Ladino name ( מונאסטיר Monastir ). The Aromanian name, Bitule or alternatively, Bituli , is derived from the same root as the Macedonian name. Bitola is located in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. The Dragor River flows through the city. Bitola lies at an elevation of 615 metres above sea level, at the foot of Baba Mountain . Its magnificent Pelister mountain (2,601 m)

3136-467: Is the governing body of the city and municipality of Bitola. The city council approves and rejects projects that would have place inside the municipality given by its members and the Mayor of Bitola. The Council consists of elected representatives. The number of members of the council is determined according to the number of residents in the community and can not be fewer than nine nor more than 33. Currently

3248-537: The Tabula Peutingeriana and Itinerarium Burdigalense as Scampis or Hiscampis . It took part in the spread of Christianity along the Via, and had a bishop, cathedral and basilicas as early as the fifth century. As a town in a wide river valley it was vulnerable to attacks once the legions were withdrawn but Emperor Justinian made an effort to improve the fortifications. The city survived attacks by

3360-686: The Adriatic Sea to the south with the Aegean Sea and Central Europe . Bitola has a mildly continental climate typical of the Pelagonija region, experiencing very warm and dry summers, and cold and snowy winters. The Köppen climate classification for this climate is Cfb , which would be an oceanic climate , going by the original −3 °C (27 °F) threshold. There are a number of prehistoric archaeological sites around Bitola. The earliest evidence of organized human settlements are

3472-591: The Albanian Orthodox Church in 1995. Father Nikolle Marku is the leader of the new denomination. Elbasan is also home to a Catholic church. Elbasan has four museums: Elbasan is home to the Summer Day festivities, a pagan feast celebrating the end of winter and the coming of summer . Ballokume , a kind of cookie made with butter and cornmeal among other ingredients, is the traditional dessert served on this day. Since 2004, it has become

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3584-633: The Bulgars and Ostrogoths and was mentioned in the work of Procopius of Cæsarea . Ruins of a Paleochristian basilica, built in the 5th or 6th century AD, were found in Bezistan area. The site seems to have been abandoned until the Ottoman army built a military camp there, followed by urban reconstruction under Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror in 1466. Mehmet constructed a massive four-sided castle with

3696-584: The Codex Dimonie possibly from the early 19th century. Some scholars mention other old, little-studied written instances of Aromanian. German Byzantinist Peter Schreiner dated a small glossary of Aromanian from Epirus in a manuscript of the Chronicle of Ioannina to the 16th or 17th century based on its writing. There are also claims about an Aromanian inscription from 1426 in the St. Zacharia Church in

3808-596: The European Commission . His conviction met with broad condemnation in Greece, where at least one editorial compared the situation to the suppression of Kurdish and other minority languages in Turkey and noted the irony that some prosecutors in fact came from non-Hellenophone families that had once spoken Aromanian or Turkish. Bletsas was eventually acquitted. Tatã a nostu tsi eshti tu tser, si ayisiascã numa

3920-541: The First Balkan War . After a victory at Sarantaporo , Greek troops advanced towards Monastir but were defeated by the Ottomans at Sorovich . The Battle of Monastir (16–19 November 1912) led to Serbian occupation of the city. According to the Treaty of Bucharest, 1913 , the region of Macedonia was divided into three parts among Greece, Serbia and Bulgaria. Monastir was ceded to Serbia and its official name became

4032-481: The Medžitlija-Níki border crossing with Greece . The city stands at an important junction connecting the south of the Adriatic Sea region with the Aegean Sea and Central Europe , and it is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It has been known since the Ottoman period as the "City of Consuls", since many European countries had consulates in Bitola. Bitola, known during

4144-876: The Monastery of the Holy Apostles near Kleino (Aromanian: Clinova ), now Greece, there is an inscription in Aromanian dated from around 1780. The St. Athanasius Church in Moscopole, now Albania, also includes an old Aromanian writing. Other early Aromanian manuscripts are the Aromanian Missal potentially from the beginning of the 18th century, the works of Theodore Kavalliotis (1770), Constantin Ucuta (1797), Daniel Moscopolites (1802), Gheorghe Constantin Roja (1808/1809) and Mihail G. Boiagi (1813) and

4256-642: The Moscopole variant; the Muzachiar variant from Muzachia in central Albania; the variant of Bitola; Pelister , Malovište ( Aromanian : Mulovishti ) , Gopeš ( Aromanian : Gopish ) , Upper Beala; Gorna Belica ( Aromanian : Beala di Suprã ) near Struga, Kruševo ( Aromanian : Crushuva ) , and the variant east of the Vardar river in North Macedonia. The Aromanian language

4368-611: The Myzeqe Plain in central Albania. The municipality of Elbasan consists of the administrative units of Bradashesh , Funarë , Gjergjan , Gjinar , Gracen , Labinot-Fushë , Labinot-Mal , Papër , Shirgjan , Shushicë , Tregan , Zavalinë and Elbasan. It covers 872.03 km. According to the Köppen climate classification , Elbasan has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa) with an average annual temperature of 13.1 °C (55.6 °F). Industrial development began during

4480-514: The Ottoman age , but there are some from the more recent past. Širok Sokak ( Macedonian : Широк Сокак , meaning "Wide Alley") is a long pedestrian street that runs from Magnolia Square to the City Park. It is unknown when Bitola's clock tower was built. Written sources from the 16th century mention a clock tower, but it is unclear if it is the same. Some believe it was built at the same time as St. Dimitrija Church in 1830. Legend says that

4592-697: The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 's Recommendation 1333 (1997) that the tuition of Aromanian be supported so as to avoid its extinction. This recommendation was issued after pressure from the Union for Aromanian Language and Culture in Germany . On a visit to Metsovo , Epirus in 1998, Greek President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos called on Vlachs to speak and teach their language, but its decline continues. A recent example of

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4704-889: The Saints Cosmas and Damian church in Sterstan (built in the 18th century), the Saint Michael ( Albanian : Shen Mehilli ) church in Shalës (built in the 17th century), the Saint Mary church in Dragot (built in the 18th century), the Saint Nicholas church of Elbasan (17th century), and the Elbasan Saint Athanasius church of Elbasan (built in 1554). About 7 km away from Elbasan there

4816-647: The Serbs , Bulgarians , Austrians and Italians . Elbasan remained a center of Christianity in Albania even after the Ottoman occupation. After the 1908 Congress of Monastir (in modern Bitola , North Macedonia ) decided to use the Latin alphabet for the written Albanian language , Muslim clerics influenced by the Ottoman Empire held various demonstrations in favor of the Arabic script in Elbasan. In

4928-522: The Slavic toponym Bitola . During World War I Bitola was on the Salonica front . Bulgaria, a Central Power , took the city on 21 November 1915, while the Allied forces recaptured it in 1916 . Bitola was divided into French, Russian, Italian and Serbian sections, under the command of French general Maurice Sarrail . Until Bulgaria's surrender in late autumn 1918, Bitola remained a front line city and

5040-503: The Zog regime with the production of tobacco and alcoholic beverages , and culminated during the communist regime. The city gained prominence after the Chinese built a steel mill in 1974. One travel writer relayed from conversation that during the communist regime, "almost everyone in the country seemed to have a gun, likely manufactured by this Chinese-financed factory in Elbasan," and

5152-428: The strategos George Gonitsiates, the Bulgarians were victorious and the Byzantine Emperor Basil II had to retreat from the Bulgarian capital Ohrid , whose outer walls were by that time already breached by the Bulgarians. Afterwards Ivan Vladislav moved the capital from Ohrid to Bitola, where he re-erected the fortress. However, the Bulgarian victory only postponed the fall of Bulgaria to Byzantine rule in 1018. As

5264-437: The zograph in 1889. There are many other items, including the chalices made by local masters, a darohranilka of Russian origin, and several paintings of scenes from the New Testament, brought from Jerusalem by pilgrims. The opening scenes of the film The Peacemaker were shot in the "Saint Dimitrija" church in Bitola, as well as some Welcome to Sarajevo scenes. Heraclea Lyncestis ( Macedonian : Хераклеа Линкестис )

5376-426: The "country did not seem to have tractors, ploughs, or sewing machines." The city also hosts a ferrochrome smelter , which was commissioned in 1989 by the communist regime and now is owned by the Balfin Group . The city was a hub for heavy industry during the communist regime, mostly metallurgic and metal processing factories. All these industries caused big pollution and Elbasan is considered today to be one of

5488-498: The 15th to the 19th centuries, was rebuilt, and many stores, often changing over time, were located there. Most of them were selling textile and other luxurious fabrics. At the same time the Bedisten was a treasury, where in specially made small rooms the money from the whole Rumelian Vilaet was kept, before it was transferred into the royal treasury. In the 19th century the Bedisten contained 84 shops. Today most of them are contemporary and they sell different types of products, but despite

5600-426: The Bishop of Bitola depended on the Archbishopric of Ohrid . During the reign of Samuil, the city was the seat of the Bitola Bishopric. In many medieval sources, especially Western, the name Pelagonia was synonymous with the Bitola Bishopric. According to some sources, Bitola was known as Heraclea since what once was the Heraclea Bishopric later became the Pelagonian Metropolitan's Diocese. In 1015, Tsar Gavril Radomir

5712-404: The Bitola region was planned in Smilevo village in May 1903. Battles were fought in the villages of Bistrica, Rakovo, Buf, Skocivir, Paralovo, Brod, Novaci, Smilevo, Gjavato, Capari and others. Smilevo was defended by 600 rebels led by Dame Gruev and Georgi Sugarev . They were defeated and the villages were burned. In 1912, Montenegro , Serbia , Bulgaria and Greece fought the Ottomans in

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5824-426: The Farsharot and Grabovean types have neither diphthongs nor the phoneme /ɨ/. The Aromanian alphabet consists of 27 letters and 9 digraphs . In addition, the digraph "gh" ( / ɟ / before "e" and "i") is used as well. The grammar and morphology are very similar to those of other Romance languages: The Aromanian language has some exceptions from the Romance languages, some of which are shared with Romanian :

5936-545: The Jewish population (3,276 Jews ) to Treblinka extermination camp . After the end of the war, PR Macedonia was established within FPR Yugoslavia . In 1945, the first Gymnasium (named " Josip Broz Tito ") to use the Macedonian language, was opened in Bitola. In 1951–52, as part of an education campaign total of 40 Turkish schools were opened in Debar , Kičevo , Kumanovo , Struga , Resen , Bitola, Kruševo and Prilep . The city has many historical building dating from many historical periods. The most notable ones are from

6048-440: The Land of the Lynx ) was an important settlement from the Hellenistic period till the early Middle Ages . It was founded by Philip II of Macedon by the middle of the 4th century BC, and named after the Greek hero Heracles . With its strategic location, it became a prosperous city. The Romans conquered this part of Macedon in 148 BC and destroyed the political power of the city. However, its prosperity continued mainly due to

6160-423: The Latin dialect for inside the home. By 1948, the new Soviet-imposed communist regime of Romania had closed all Romanian-run schools outside Romania and, since the closure, there has been no formal education in Aromanian and speakers have been encouraged to learn and use the Greek language. This has been a process encouraged by the community itself and is not an explicit State policy. The decline and isolation of

6272-444: The League's rebellion. In 1874, Manastır became the center of Monastir Vilayet which included the sanjaks of Debra , Serfidze , Elbasan , Manastır (Bitola), Görice and the towns of Kırcaova , Pirlepe , Florina , Kesriye and Grevena . Traditionally a strong trading center, Bitola was also known as "the city of the consuls". In the final period of Ottoman rule (1878–1912), Bitola had consulates from twelve countries. During

6384-402: The Ottoman Empire as Manastır or Monastir , is one of the oldest cities in North Macedonia. It was founded as Heraclea Lyncestis in the middle of the 4th century BC by Philip II of Macedon . The city was the last capital of the First Bulgarian Empire (1015–1018) and the last capital of Ottoman Rumelia , from 1836 to 1867. According to the 2002 census, Bitola is the third largest city in

6496-422: The Ottoman authorities collected around 60,000 eggs from nearby villages and mixed them in the mortar to make the walls stronger. The tower has a rectangular base and is about 30 meters high. Near the top is a rectangular terrace with an iron fence. On each side of the fence is an iron console construction which holds the lamps for lighting the clock. The clock is on the highest of three levels. The original clock

6608-413: The Ottoman period. With its numerous cupolas that look like a fortress, with its tree-branch-like inner streets and four large metal doors it is one of the biggest covered markets in the region. It was built in the 15th century by Kara Daut Pasha Uzuncarsili , then Rumelia 's Beylerbey . Although the bazaar appears secure, it has been robbed and set on fire, but has managed to survive. The bedisten, from

6720-427: The Roman Via Egnatia road which passed near the city. A number of archaeological monuments from the Roman period can be seen today in Heraclea, including a portico , thermae (baths), a theater . The theatre was once capable of housing an audience of around 2,500 people. In the early Byzantine period (4th to 6th centuries AD) Heraclea became an important episcopal centre. Some of its bishops were mentioned in

6832-414: The Romanian-oriented groups was not helped by the fact that they openly collaborated with the Axis powers of Italy and Germany during the occupation of Greece in WWII . In contrast, the vast majority of Vlachs fought in the Greek resistance, including leaders like Alexandros Svolos and Andreas Tzimas , and a number of Vlach villages were destroyed by the Germans. The issue of Aromanian-language education

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6944-423: The Sanjak of Elbasan was established as soon as the fortress of Elbasan was constructed in 1466, based on Tursun Beg 's records there is a possibility that Elbasan initially was part of the Sanjak of Ohrid . In 1467 many Christians from Skopje , Ohrid, Serres and Kastoria were forcibly deported to Elbasan. In the late 17th century, the Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi passed through Elbasan and noted that "all

7056-466: The acts of the first Church Councils , including Bishop Evagrius of Heraclea in the Acts of the Sardica Council of 343. The city walls, a number of Early Christian basilicas , the bishop's residence, and a lavish city fountain are some of the remains of this period. The floors in the three naves of the Great Basilica are covered with mosaics with a very rich floral and figurative iconography ; these well preserved mosaics are often regarded as one of

7168-422: The apostles. Other engraved wood items include the bishop's throne made in the spirit of Mijak engravers, several icon frames and five more-recent pillars shaped like thrones. The frescoes originate from two periods: the end of the 19th century and the end of World War I to the present. The icons and frescoes were created thanks to voluntary contributions of local businessmen and citizens. The authors of many of

7280-499: The archaeological sites from the early Neolithic period, among which the most important are the tells of Veluška Tumba and Bara Tumba near the village of Porodin , first inhabited around 6000 BC. The region of Bitola was known as Lynkestis in antiquity, a region that became part of Upper Macedonia , and was ruled by semi-independent chieftains until the later Argead rulers of Macedon . The tribes of Lynkestis were known as Lynkestai . According to Nicholas Hammond, they were

7392-460: The area. In place of the deserted theater, several houses were built during that time. The Slavs also built a fortress around their settlement. Bitola was a part of the First Bulgarian Empire from the middle of the 8th to the early 11th centuries, after which it again became part of the Byzantine Empire , and in turn was briefly part of the Serbian Empire during the 14th century. Arguably, a number of monasteries and churches were built in and around

7504-436: The auxiliary verb am (have) as the imperfect ( aviam ) and the past participle, as in Spanish and French , except that French replaces avoir (have) with être (be) for some intransitive verbs. Aromanian shares this feature with Meglenian as well as other languages in the Balkan language area . Only the auxiliary verb inflects according to number and person ( aviam , aviai , avia , aviamu , aviatu , avia ), whereas

7616-461: The center of the city, is located the Saint Mary Orthodox Church. The church was built in 1830 on the foundations of an older church, which had partially burned in 1819. Paintings and frescoes of Onufri , restored by David Selenicasi and Kostadin Shelcani can still be seen. The church has been an important religious and cultural center for the Albanian language. Teodor Haxhifilipi , Kostandin Kristoforidhi , and Aleksandër Xhuvani have served in

7728-432: The church. They are the authors of translations into Albanian of many psalms. The church building served as the first Albanian school of Elbasan in modern times, which opened in 1909. Other orthodox churches in the Elbasan District include the Mameli church (built in the 17th century), the Saint Nicholas church ( Albanian : Shen Kolli ) in Shelcan (built in 1554), the Saint Nicholas church in Valesh (built in 1604),

7840-508: The city during the Medieval period (hence its other name Manastir ). In the 10th century, Bitola came under the rule of tsar Samuel of Bulgaria . He built a castle in the town, later used by his successor Gavril Radomir of Bulgaria . The town is mentioned in several medieval sources . John Skylitzes 's 11th-century chronicle mentions that Emperor Basil II burned Gavril's castle in Bitola, when passing through and ravaging Pelagonia . The second chrysobull (1019) of Basil II mentioned that

7952-409: The city suffered successive attacks by various tribes, and eventually the region was settled by the early Slavic peoples . Its imperial buildings fell into disrepair and the city gradually declined to a small settlement, and survived as such until around the 11th century AD. In the 6th and 7th centuries, the region around Bitola experienced a demographic shift as more and more Slavic tribes settled in

8064-467: The city the nickname "the city of consuls." Italy has also expressed interest in opening a consulate in Bitola. There is only one television station in Bitola: Tera, few regional radio stations: the private Radio 105 (Bombarder), Radio 106,6, UKLO FM, Radio Delfin as well as a local weekly newspaper — Bitolski Vesnik. The Bitola Municipality Council ( Macedonian : Совет на Општина Битола )

8176-518: The city to around 75,000 inhabitants. The culmination of this process was the construction of the huge Steel of the Party ( Albanian : Celiku i Partise ) metallurgical complex outside the city, in the Shkumbini valley, built with Chinese assistance in the 1970s. It was emphatically called "The Second National Liberation of Albanian" by Enver Hoxha . The cost of the complex in environmental impact

8288-648: The city. But in September 1944, Bulgaria switched sides in the war and withdrew from Yugoslavia. On 4 November, the 7th Macedonian Liberation Brigade entered Bitola after the German withdrawal. The historical Jewish community , of Sephardic origin, lived in the city until World War II, when some were able to immigrate to the United States and Chile. On 11 March 1943 the Bulgarians deported the vast majority of

8400-540: The complete disappearance of verb infinitives , a feature of the Balkan sprachbund . As such, the tenses and moods that, in Romanian, use the infinitive (like the future simple tense and the conditional mood ) are formed in other ways in Aromanian. For the same reason, verb entries in dictionaries are given in their indicative mood, present tense, first-person-singular form. Aromanian verbs are classified in four conjugations. The table below gives some examples and indicates

8512-405: The conjugation of the corresponding verbs in Romanian. The future tense is formed using an auxiliary invariable particle "u" or "va" and the subjunctive mood . In Romanian, declension of the future particle plus an infinitive is used. Whereas in standard Romanian the pluperfect (past perfect) is formed synthetically (as in literary Portuguese ), Aromanian uses a periphrastic construction with

8624-544: The country, after the capital Skopje and Kumanovo . Bitola is also the seat of the Bitola Municipality . The name Bitola is derived from the Old Church Slavonic word ѡ҆би́тѣл҄ь ([obitěĺь] Error: {{Lang}}: Non-latn text/Latn script subtag mismatch ( help ) , meaning "monastery, cloister"), literally "abode," as the city was formerly noted for its monastery. When the meaning of the name

8736-426: The country. The Streževo water system is the largest in North Macedonia and has the best technological facilities. The three thermoelectric power stations of REK Bitola produce nearly 80% of electricity in the state. The Frinko refrigerate factory was a leading electrical and metal company. Bitola also has significant capacity in the textile and food industries. Bitola is also home to thirteen consulates , which gives

8848-635: The decision of the Congress of Monastir , which was held in Monastir (modern Bitola , North Macedonia ) to use the Latin alphabet rather than the Arabic script in written Albanian . Albanians, Turks, Aromunians and Sephardic Jews were living in Elbasan. Before the Second World War, Elbasan was a city with a mixture of eastern and medieval buildings, narrow cobbled streets and a large bazaar. There

8960-528: The definite article is a clitic particle appended at the end of the word, both the definite and indefinite articles can be inflected , and nouns are classified in three genders , with neuter in addition to masculine and feminine. Unlike other Romance languages, Aromanian lacks an infinitive form for verbs, the synthetic infinitive inherited from Latin became a noun like in Romanian (for example cântare < CANTARE ). Aromanian grammar has features that distinguish it from Romanian, an important one being

9072-574: The education level and the rate of literacy, caused the formation of a circle of intellectuals in Bitola. Bitola was also the headquarters of many cultural organizations at that time. In 1894, Manastır was connected with Thessaloniki by train. The first motion picture made in the Balkans was produced by the Aromanian Manakis brothers in Manastır in 1903. In their honour, the annual Manaki Brothers International Cinematographers Film Festival

9184-470: The finest examples of the early Christian art in the region. During the 4th and 6th centuries, the names of other bishops from Heraclea were recorded. The city was sacked by Ostrogothic forces, commanded by Theodoric the Great in 472 AD and, despite a large gift to him from the city's bishop, it was sacked again in 479. It was restored in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. However, in the late 6th century

9296-518: The first in Aromanian. Even before the incorporation of various Aromanian-speaking territories into the Greek state (1832, 1912), the language was subordinated to Greek , traditionally the language of education and religion in Constantinople and other prosperous urban cities. The historical studies cited below (mostly Capidan ) show that especially after the fall of Moscopole (1788) the process of Hellenisation via education and religion gained

9408-702: The former village of Linotopi  [ bg ; el ; mk ; sq ] in Greece, but according to Hristu Cândroveanu , it was destroyed during restoration works by order of Greek priests because it was not in Greek. Aromanian is not a homogenous linguistic entity. Its main varieties include the Pindus type, the Gramoste type, the Farsherot type, Olympus type, and the Moscopole type. It has also several regional variants, named after places that were home to significant populations of Aromanians (Vlachs); nowadays located in Albania, North Macedonia and Greece. Examples are

9520-469: The icons had a vast knowledge of iconography schemes of the New Testament . The icons show a great sense of color, dominated by red, green and ochra shades. The abundance of golden ornaments is noticeable and points to the presence of late-Byzantine artwork and baroque style . The icon of Saint Demetrius is signed with the initials "D. A. Z.", showing that it was made by iconographer Dimitar Andonov

9632-635: The inhabitants speak Albanian" having knowledge of Turkish with Muslim clergy being literate in Persian, while merchants also used the Greek and " Frankish " languages. By the end of the 17th century it had 2,000 inhabitants.The fortress was dismantled by Reshit Pasha in 1832.In 1864, the Sanjak of Elbasan became a part of Monastir Vilayet . In the late nineteenth century, Elbasan was inhabited by 3,000 Muslim families and 280 Orthodox Christian families, of which 100 were old Orthodox Albanian families living in

9744-503: The installation of Prince Wied in 1914. Elbasan was occupied successively by Serbs , Bulgarians , Austrians and Italians between 1915 and 1918. The Bulgarian army occupied Elbasan on January 29, 1916, during Bulgarian occupation of Albania In March 1916 the army of Austria-Hungary took over control of Elbasan From June 1916 to March 1917 Stanislav Kostka Neumann fought with the Austrian army there and called his war memoirs about

9856-514: The internal renovations, the outwards appearance of the structure has remained unchanged. The Gazi Hajdar Kadi Mosque is one of the most attractive monuments of Islamic architecture in Bitola. It was built in the early 1560s, as the project of the architect Mimar Sinan , ordered by the Bitola kadija Ajdar-kadi. Over time, it was abandoned and heavily damaged, and at one point used as a stare, but recent restoration and conservation has restored to some extent its original appearance. The New Mosque

9968-515: The letter ã , used for the sounds represented in Romanian by ă and â/î . It can also be written with a modified Romanian alphabet that includes two additional letters, ń and ľ , and rarely with a version of the Greek script . Compared to Daco-Romanian, the Aromanian varieties have preserved from Proto-Romanian the word-final glide [w] alongside [j] (in the Pindean and Gramostean types), while

10080-481: The most polluted cities of Albania. In recent years Elbasan, like the rest of Albania, has had to deal not only with local pollution, but also with what environmentalists call "imported pollution", because of the waste imported from abroad for the recycling process in private companies. The population of the municipality of Elbasan as of the 2023 census is 115,101, of which 66,834 is in the municipal unit. Elbasan has been occupied by several different groups, including

10192-521: The name was Hellenized to Voutélion ( Βουτέλιον ) or Vitólia ( Βιτώλια ), hence the names Butella used by William of Tyre and Butili by the Arab geographer al-Idrisi . The Modern Greek name for the city ( Monastíri , Μοναστήρι ), also meaning "monastery", is a calque of the Slavic name. The Turkish name Manastır ( Ottoman Turkish : مناستر ) is derived from the Greek name , as

10304-567: The occupation in Elbasan . Industrial development began in the Zogist period when tobacco and alcohol factories were established. The city was also noted for its good public buildings, advanced educational provisions, public gardens and timber-built shops. There was much wartime damage, which was followed by an intensive programme of industrial development in the Communist period that boosted

10416-618: The old Christian neighbourhood within the fortress and 180 Aromanian families residing in the St. Nicholas neighbourhood on the edge of town. At the beginning of the 20th century it was estimated that 15,000 people lived in Elbasan. In 1909, after the Young Turks revolution in Istanbul , an Albanian National Congress was held in Elbasan to study educational and cultural questions. The delegates, all from central and southern Albania, endorsed

10528-467: The past participle does not change. The Aromanian gerund is applied to some verbs, but not all. These verbs are: A literature in the Aromanian language exists. The Macedonian Radio Television (MRT) produces radio and television broadcasts in Aromanian. Radio Romania International has Aromanian service producing radio shows in Aromanian. Films produced in the Aromanian language include Toma Enache 's I'm Not Famous but I'm Aromanian (2013),

10640-460: The proto language over the course of the next one thousand years. Greek influences are much stronger in Aromanian than in other Eastern Romance languages, especially because Aromanian has used Greek words to coin new words ( neologisms ), especially within Greece, while Romanian has based most of its neologisms on French . However, there has also been an increasing tendency for Aromanian-speakers outside of Greece to borrow terms from Romanian, due to

10752-487: The same period, there were a number of prestigious schools in the city, including a military academy that, among others, was attended by the Turkish reformer Mustafa Kemal Atatürk . In 1883, there were 19 schools in Monastir, of which 11 were Greek, 5 were Bulgarian and 3 were Romanian. In Bitola, besides the schools where Ottomanism and Turkism flourished in the 19th century, schools of various nations were also opened. These institutions, which were very effective in increasing

10864-608: The sensitivity of the issue was the 2001 conviction (later overturned in the Appeals Court) to 15 months in jail of Sotiris Bletsas , a Greek Aromanian who was found guilty of "dissemination of false information" after he distributed informative material on minority languages in Europe (which included information on minority languages of Greece), produced by the European Bureau for Lesser Used Languages and financed by

10976-567: The shared alphabet and contact with Romanian over the Internet, where Romanian-language material is much more available than it is in Aromanian. With the arrival of the Turks in the Balkans , Aromanian also received some Turkish words. Still, the lexical composition remains mainly Romance. Compared to other Balkan languages, the earliest documents and manuscripts of Aromanian appear late. This

11088-434: The soft, molded shapes of the sarcophagi. The old bazaar ( Macedonian : Стара Чаршија ) is mentioned in a description of the city from the 16th and the 17th centuries. The present bedisten does not differ much in appearance from the original one. The bedisten had eighty-six shops and four large iron gates. The shops used to sell textiles, and today sell food products. The Deboj Bath is an Ottoman Empire -era hamam . It

11200-746: The town was ruled by the Albanian Ali Pasha as part of the Pashalik of Yanina . During the Great Eastern Crisis , the local Bulgarian movement of the day was defeated when armed Bulgarian groups were repelled by the League of Prizren , an Albanian organisation opposing Bulgarian geopolitical aims in areas like Bitola that contained an Albanian population. Nevertheless, in April 1881, an Ottoman army captured Prizren and suppressed

11312-482: The voluntary contributions of local merchants and craftsmen. It is plain on the outside, as all churches in the Ottoman Empire had to be, but lavishly decorated with chandeliers , a carved bishop throne and an engraved iconostasis on the inside. According to some theories, iconostasis is a work of the Mijak engravers. Its most impressive feature is the arc above the imperial quarters with modelled figures of Jesus and

11424-622: Was a clearly defined Muslim settlement within the castle walls, an Aromanian district on the outskirts of the city and several fine mosques and Islamic buildings. At the time the population was about 15,000 people. The very first teachers' training college in Albania, the Shkolla Normale e Elbasanit , was established in Elbasan. During First Balkan War , it was occupied by Serbian troops on 29 November 1912. They withdrew from Elbasan on 25 October 1913 due to United Kingdom and Austria Hungary's ultimatum. The Muslim majority of Elbasan opposed

11536-476: Was an important ancient settlement from the Hellenistic period till the early Middle Ages. It was founded by Philip II of Macedon by the middle of the 4th century BC. Today, its ruins are in the southern part of Bitola, 2 km (1 mi) from the city center. Situated near the city centre, the covered bedisten ( Macedonian : Безистен ) is one of the most impressive and oldest buildings in Bitola from

11648-692: Was bombarded almost daily by air bombardment and artillery fire and was nearly destroyed. At the end of World War I Bitola was restored to the Kingdom of Serbia , and, consequently, in 1918 became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. Bitola became one of the major cities of the Vardarska banovina . During World War II (1939–45), the Germans (on 9 April 1941) and Bulgarians (on 18 April 1941) took control of

11760-649: Was estimated that Aromanian had 210,000 native speakers, of which 50,000 were in Albania, 50,000 in Greece, 50,000 in Romania, 32,000 in Serbia, 18,200 in North Macedonia, and 9,800 in Bulgaria. Aromanian-speakers also exist in the diaspora, with at least 53 speakers recorded to be living in Australia at the time of the 2021 Australian census . Aromanian has a degree of official recognition in North Macedonia, where it

11872-750: Was held at the house of Fehim Zavalani . Mit'hat Frashëri was chairman of the congress. The participants in the Congress were prominent figures from the cultural and political life of Albanian-inhabited territories in the Balkans , and the Albanian diaspora . The Bitola region was a stronghold of the Ilinden Uprising . The uprising was conceived in 1903 in Thessaloniki by the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO). The uprising in

11984-591: Was high for the Shkumbin valley. Elbasan Railway Station was opened in 1950. In 2014, the Albanian government reconstructed former Ruzhdi Bizhuta Stadium. The renovated Elbasan Arena became the home stadium of the Albania national football team and Albania's de facto stadium meeting FIFA's criteria. The city of Elbasan lies to the north of the river Shkumbin between the Skanderbeg Mountains and

12096-527: Was killed by his cousin Ivan Vladislav , who then declared himself tsar and rebuilt the city's fortress. To commemorate the occasion, a stone inscription written in the Cyrillic alphabet was set in the fortress; in it the Slavic name of the city is mentioned: Bitol. During the battle of Bitola in 1015 between a Bulgarian army under the command of the voivode Ivats and a Byzantine army led by

12208-713: Was no longer understood, it lost its prefix "o-". The name Bitola is mentioned in the Bitola inscription , related to the old city fortress built in 1015 during the ruling of Gavril Radomir of Bulgaria (1014–1015) when Bitola served as capital of the First Bulgarian Empire . Modern Slavic variants include the Macedonian Bitola ( Битола ), the Serbian Bitolj ( Битољ ) and Bulgarian Bitolya ( Битоля ). In Byzantine times,

12320-482: Was part of the Ottoman Empire , and was known as Monastir. Fierce battles took place near the city during the Ottoman conquest. Ottoman rule was completely established after the death of Prince Marko in 1395 when the Ottoman Empire established the Sanjak of Ohrid as a part of the Rumelia Eyalet and one of the earliest established sanjaks in Europe. Before it became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1395, Bitola

12432-582: Was part of the realm of Prince Marko . Initially, its county town was Bitola and later it was Ohrid , so it was sometimes referred to as the Sanjak of Monastir and sometimes as the Sanjak of Bitola. After the Austro-Ottoman wars , the trade development and the overall prosperity of the city declined. But in the late 19th century, it again became the second-largest city in the wider southern Balkan region after Thessaloniki . Between 1815 and 1822,

12544-472: Was replaced during World War II with a working one, given by the Nazis because the city had maintained German graves from World War I. The massive tower is composed of walls, massive spiral stairs, wooden mezzanine constructions, pendentives and the dome. During the construction of the tower, the façade was simultaneously decorated with simple stone plastic. The Church of Saint Demetrius was built in 1830 with

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