Bitola (Битола) - a city in the southwestern part of Macedonia and seat of the eponymous Municipality of Bitola, administrative, cultural, economic, industrial, educational and scientific center for that part of the country. The city is known as the city of consuls, because it was home to the consular offices of European countries during the Ottoman Empire, where together with Thessaloniki it was the most important place in the European part of the Empire. In the period 1864 - 1912, Bitola was the capital of the Bitola vilayet, one of the three vilayets in the region of Macedonia. Even today, many of the consular offices in the Republic of Macedonia are located here. Bitola is the second largest city in Macedonia in terms of population (2002). To the north of Bitola is the capital of Macedonia, Skopje (169 km), to the northeast is the city of Prilep (43 km), to the south is the city of Florina (Greece) (33 km) and to the northwest are Resen (29 km) ) and Demir Hisar (29 km). During Yugoslavia it was one of the cultural centers, both in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and in SFRY. The father of the Turkish nation Kemal Ataturk graduated from an officer school in Bitola. Some of his works are now kept in the National Museum.
Throughout history, depending on the
rulers, the city of Bitola had many names. According to Adrian Rum,
the Slavic name for the city, Bitola, comes from the word Obitel
(Old Slavic Obitelj), this term is still used today in (Croatian,
Obitelj) which during the Middle Ages was used for a community of
monks, as a family, ie a monastery. It got its name from the many
monasteries that were located in and around the city, and some still
exist today. Over time, the sound O is dropped in the pronunciation
of the word "Family", and the name of the city becomes Bitola. The
Greeks for the same reasons called the city Monastiri (Greek:
Μοναστήρι). Bitola is today's official name for the city, but also
the oldest name, judging by the Bitola plaque from 1015 on which the
city is mentioned, as well as according to many military leaders of
Tsar Samuel, as well as travelers of that time. The Arab traveler
Abu Abdullah Muhammad al-Idrisi wrote in the 12th century: "It takes
two days to travel east to get from Ohrid (Ohrid) to Butili
(Bitola). "Butili is an unusual and beautiful city."
There
are stories according to which on the right quay of the river Dragor
there were 41 churches and the same number of mills for their
maintenance. Also on the left quay of Dragor there were 29 churches
with the same number of mills. During the holidays at that time, the
people from the villages of Bitola Field gathered at these churches
where they performed their religious rites. Considering that the
land on which the city of Bitola was located at that time was
covered with numerous churches, the city got the name Monastery.
There is a version that says that the city of Bitola was named
Manastir after a huge church that was located above Bitola, near the
current bridge called Crn Most (Turkish: kara köprüsü). This church
could accommodate all those present from the village population from
the Bitola field who came during the holidays to perform religious
rites.
According to the records of Marko Cepenkov, the city
of Bitola was named after the great owner Toljo, who had his
fortress near the present-day Bitola village of Bukovo. At the time
when the Turks came to conquer this part of Macedonia, to call the
great owner Toljo to fight, they said "Bi Toljo, do bi Toljo", which
according to Marko Cepenkov hence the name of the city of Bitola.
During the Ottoman rule, the city was called Manastir, which was
adopted by the Turks and Albanians from the Greeks. After the Balkan
Wars of 1913, the city fell under Serbian occupation and was renamed
Bitola.
Many important events in Macedonian and
Balkan history took place in Bitola. The city has been built,
rebuilt, demolished and rebuilt and upgraded since its first
settlement in the Late Bronze Age. Then in the Hellenistic period,
until the Roman Empire, until the Byzantine era had the status of a
city with a high degree of civilization.
The traditionally
strong shopping center is also known as the city of consuls because
in one period during the Ottoman Empire, Bitola had as many as
twenty consulates from various European countries. At the same time,
the city had many schools, including a military academy, which was
attended by the famous Turkish reformer Kemal Ataturk. At the end of
the 19th century it was such a strong city that its population was
constantly growing and exceeding the population of Belgrade. The
city was full of factories and photo shops, and it is interesting
that besides Singer, there was a candy factory in Bitola at that
time. The first photographs and films in the Balkans were shot in
Bitola, thanks to the Manaki brothers. Janaki buys the first film
camera from London, produced by the company "Charles Urban Trading",
the 300th copy of the BIOSCOPE series. Thus, with that famous
"Camera 300", the cinematography of the Balkans began. It was the
golden age of the city. Unfortunately, during the Balkan Wars, many
battles were fought around the city and the city itself, so much
material evidence burned or was completely The architecture could be
rebuilt, especially in the last fifteen years, and the evidence for
everything that has happened is the retelling of the old ones that
are well remembered, but today there are many organizations and
festivals that, after a long time, are held again. They are held
every year from July 29 to August 2 in Bitola, in memory of the
Ilinden Uprising, under the name "Cultural Festival Ilinden Days".
Prehistory
The city of Bitola with its surroundings is very
rich in monuments from the prehistoric period. The two most
important are Velushka Tumba and Tumba Bara, which are located near
the village of Porodin. From the Copper Age, Tumba settles here near
the village of Crnobuki, Suplevac (near the village of Suvodol) and
Visok Rid (near the village of Bukri).
Roman period
The
city is located on the Roman road Via Ignatia, where the ancient
city of Heraclea Lyncestis is located. In the period of the II
century BC. When Macedonia became a Roman province, Heraclea became
a strong economic and political center (Septina Aurelia Heraclea)
with its permanent Roman viceroy and Roman army, which testifies to
Bitola as a center of eternal power, civilization, culture and
beauty that is here today.
Ottoman rule
The beginning of
the Turkish wars in the Balkans announced a new era of living. The
Turkish armies during 1382-1383 after very hard and bloody battles
and after the fierce resistance offered by the local population
finally managed to conquer Bitola. According to some legends, the
monks of the seventy monasteries and churches that existed in Bitola
at that time also offered fierce resistance to the Turkish
conquerors. Hadzi Evronos Bey, who was at the head of the Turkish
army, revolted by the fierce resistance he encountered during the
conquest of the city, ordered the demolition of the Bitola fortress.
Ashik-pasha Zede, who accompanied Euronos-bey in his campaign, noted
in his reports that the Turkish armies had attacked Bitola several
times, and the monks, giving great resistance, at the very end of
the river Dragor, were all massacred. However, the Turks completely
captured the city only after the death of King Marko in 1395, and
during the occupation of Bitola I first entered Timurtash-pasha with
his army.
From this period, in fact, begins the "oriental"
shaping of the city, which was the result of the construction of
this type of buildings, but also of the oriental construction
techniques and styles. In the period of the XVI - XVII century, a
period of historical and cultural changes, the Turkish
administration began to name the city of Bitola as Manastir or Toli
Manastir. However, in the whole period of its existence, the name
Bitola was never forgotten, but on the contrary, it was in daily use
by the Christian population.
In the middle of the 17th
century it became an important cultural center of European Turkey.
It is the seat of the Bitola district in which there were 150
settlements. The city was famous for its numerous markets, the most
famous of which was the cotton market. The famous travel writer
Evliya Çelebi visited Bitola in 1662 and noted: with iron gates and
86 shops. "There were 70 Muslim temples, nine madrassas, several
Christian churches and public buildings in the city." The city
itself, seen from afar, seemed to be immersed in greenery. In this
period Bitola is one of the most important religious-Muslim centers,
a High Religious Law School, which existed throughout the XVII
century. In the same century. the city has grown into an important
administrative, economic and cultural center. When Skopje was burnt
down in 1689 due to cholera, Bitola took over most of its important
functions. It developed trade, mainly with European centers, Vienna,
Paris, London, etc.
The most important period of the
historical and economic development of Bitola is the XIX century,
when the headquarters of the Rumelia vilayet was moved to Bitola,
and as such, it is ranked as the first city in the European part of
Turkey. According to a document from this period, it is said that
there were 1,380 shops in Bitola, most of which were handicraft.
In 1805 in Bitola lived about 15,000 inhabitants. Crafts have
made significant progress in the industries. In the middle of the
XIX century the number of craft shops reached over 2,000 with about
140 types of crafts, organized in 70 guild organizations. The
diplomatic missions, consulates of several foreign countries also
made a significant contribution to the development of Bitola. That
led Bitola to become a "city of consuls" but also an arena of
foreign propaganda.
In Bitola at the end of the XIX and the
beginning of the XX century there were about 3000 pianos for which
the city was called the "City of Pianos". Due to some former
understandings, the piano symbolized wealth, class division, and in
the 1950s, with the nationalization process, many families lost
their pianos.
In the school year 1899/1900 in the Bitola Boys' High School, one
of the founders of VMRO, Dame Gruev, was employed as a teacher, who
was in charge of teaching geography, arithmetic, geometry and
drawing.
According to the statistics of Vasil K'nchov
("Macedonia. Ethnography and Statistics") from 1900, Bitola had a
population of 37,000, of which 10,000 Macedonians, 10,500 Turks,
1,500 Albanian Muslims, 2,000 Roma, 7,000 Vlachs, 5,500 Jews and
about 500 others.
The Christian inhabitants of the city were
divided into several denominations. According to the statistics of
the Exarchate Secretary Dimitar Mishev ("La Macedoine et sa
Population Chrétienne") in 1905 the Christian population of Bitola
consisted of 15,252 Macedonians, of which 8,844 exarchs, 6,300 Greek
patriarchs, 72 Serbian patriarchs, then 100 G patriarchs, 36 7,200
Vlachs, 120 Albanians and 120 Roma. There were 10 primary and 3
secondary Bulgarian schools in the city, 7 primary and 2 secondary
Greek, 2 primary and 2 secondary Vlach and 1 primary and 2 secondary
Serbian.
Bitola due to its location, at the crossroads
between all the most important roads (east, west, north and south),
from the earliest period of Turkish rule gained the deserved
importance and became an important military-strategic center that
was only confirmed in 1830 when it it also became the political
center of the Rumelia vilayet. After the disintegration of the
timaro-spahi system and the intensified harassment by the landlords,
there were new changes in the ethnic structure of the population in
Bitola. In 1864, the Bitola vilayet was established with its seat in
Bitola. The head of the vilayet was a vali, with the title of pasha,
who was appointed by the sultan irade. The vilayet covered an area
of about 32,000 km2, extending to parts of today's countries:
Macedonia, Albania and Greece.
Balkan wars
During the
First Balkan War, the Battle of Bitola was fought in the vicinity of
the city, in which the Ottoman army was defeated by Serbian forces.
The city suffered during World War I due to its proximity to the
Thessaloniki front.
In the period between the two world wars,
Bitola became a border town. It lost its gravitational pull towards
Greece and Albania. However, during this period, the city for the
first time began to be built according to urban plans
world
War Two
Bitola was the first city in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to
experience World War II, as it was bombed by Italian aircraft on
November 5, 1940.
During World War II, the city was first
occupied by the Germans and later by the Bulgarians. In September
1944, Bulgaria capitulated and began to withdraw from Yugoslavia and
Bitola was liberated from the Macedonian partisans. On November 4,
1944, the Seventh Macedonian Brigade entered Bitola victoriously. On
February 6, 1945, the first high school was opened in Bitola
(originally called "Goce Delchev", in 1952 renamed "Josip Broz
Tito") where it was taught in Macedonian.
During the National
Liberation War, 606 people were detained in the city and the
surrounding area, 117 were interned, 4 were deported and 8 were
taken captive. 251 people were sentenced, of which 23 to death. 266
people died on the battlefields of Yugoslavia. 106 people from
Bitola and the surrounding area were bearers of the Partisan
Monument 1941 and 8 were declared national heroes.
The Jews
in Bitola
Bitola was inhabited by Jews who fled Spain during the
Inquisition of Queen Isabella of Castile. These Jews settled in most
of the Balkans in cities of greater importance and with developed
trade, including in Bitola. Here they helped the development of the
city with good trade relations. On March 11, 1943, the entire Jewish
population of Bitola (3,011 Jews) was deported to the Treblinka camp
in Poland by Bulgarian fascists.
The city is located at the northeastern foot of Mount Baba and the southeastern foot of Oblakovska Mountain, in the central part of the Pelagonija Valley. The river Dragor flows through it. It is located 14 km north of the border with Greece, at an altitude of 576 m. Bitola is traditionally an important trade and passenger connection between the Adriatic and the Aegean Sea, as well as one of the most important passenger connections in the Balkans with Central Europe. Bitola is 168 km south of Skopje, 42 km southwest of Prilep, 32 km east of Resen, 33 km north of Florina (Greece) and 28 km southeast of Demir Hisar. It is located 200 km northwest of the Aegean Sea.
The city has an average annual air
temperature of 11.1 ° C, but with large deviations in certain years:
from 10.1 ° C in 1975 to 13.1 ° C in 1952. The coldest month is
January, with an average monthly temperature of -0.6 ° C, but with
an absolute minimum temperature of -30.4 ° C. The warmest month is
July, with an average monthly temperature of 22.2 ° C and an
absolute maximum temperature of 41.2 ° C. The absolute annual
variation of air temperature is 71.6 ° C, which is specific to the
continental climate.
The temperature is characteristic of a
continental climate, and the precipitation is a dry modified
Mediterranean or steppe climate which, at times, has breakthroughs
of hot air masses from North Africa, ie. Sahara. The average annual
rainfall is 601 mm, with values ranging from 338 mm to 879 mm.
Bitola is also an example with the appearance of aurora
borealis. The isohazm passes through Bitola (a line that connects
places with an equal number of days with the appearance of aurora
borealis) 0,1 which means that in the sky of Bitola on average only
once in 10 years, aurora borealis appears.
There is also a
meteorological station in Bitola, located at the exit of the city on
the road to Novaci. It started operating on March 16, 1945, although
there are systematic data for certain meteorological elements from
1926 and 1927. The meteorological station in the city is located at
an altitude of 586 m, close to the average altitude of the city
which is 576 m.
Wide street
Shirok
Sokak (the official name of the street is "Marshal Tito", also known
as the "Bitola promenade") is the busiest street in Bitola. It was
originally intended for cars, but today it is exclusively a
pedestrian street and the true heart of the city. Shirok Sokak has
the largest shops, restaurants, opera house, galleries and many
other cafes and clubs. Here are the oldest architectural works and
buildings in the Balkans, which have adorned the city since Turkish
times. Typical Turkish houses, in addition to beautiful villas, are
not uncommon in this part of town. At the very end of Shirok Sokak
you enter a spacious flower park full of rows of trees, which leads
to the zoo and the ancient site of Heraclea Lyncestis.
Heraclea Lyncestis
Heraclea Lyncestis (Latin: Heraclea Lyncestis)
is an ancient city from the Roman period, located near the city
itself, at the foot of Baba Planina and dates from the middle of the
IV century BC. It was founded by the Macedonian King Philip II. The
city was developed as a military-strategic center on the
northwestern border of the then Macedonian area of Linkestida
(today Bitola Field).
Clock tower
It
is not known exactly when the clock tower was built. Written sources
from the 16th century mention the clock tower, but it has not been
determined with certainty whether it is the same building. Many
believe that it was built at the same time as the church of St.
Dimitrija Solunski, more precisely 1830. According to legend, the
tower was built when the Ottoman authorities in the city, ie the
Turks, passed through all the surrounding villages and collected
about 60,000 eggs from which they made mortar. From the mixture
mixed with stones, they built the tower whose solid walls still
stand today.
The tower has a square base and is about 30
meters high. At the top of the tower are terraces with wrought iron
fences. On all sides of the terraces there are structures that hold
lamps with the help of which the whole tower and its clock are
visible at night. The clock is at the top of the three levels. The
original clock was replaced during World War II with a newer and
much more accurate and modern clock. The new watch was bought by the
Nazis in gratitude to citizens for the German cemetery they erected
for the victims of the Bitola conflict, along with the English and
French cemeteries during the First World War.
The clock tower
for many is a symbol of the city of Bitola. The tower is located in
the park where young people constantly gather, enjoying the city
center, in addition to the guitar sounds that are common. It is also
a place where citizens wait for Christmas during Christmas Eve and
light candles for health, along the lawn and sidewalk of the park
where the tower is.
Ajdar-kadi mosque
The Ajdar-kadi
mosque (Turkish court) is one of the most attractive monuments of
Islamic architecture in Bitola. It was built in the period from 1561
to 1562, as a project of the famous architect Mimar Sinan. The
mosque was ordered by the Bitola kadija Ajdar-kadi, after which the
mosque got its name. Over time, the mosque was severely damaged, but
today it has been completely restored and has approximately its
original appearance.
Yeni Mosque
The name in Turkish means New Mosque. It is
located in the center of the city. It has a square base, with a dome
at the top. There is a minaret 40 meters high near the mosque.
Today, the rooms of the mosque are used for exhibitions. Recent
archeological excavations have revealed that it was built on an old
church. According to the poet Laeli, the mosque was built in 973 AH
or 1565. But according to the calculation of M. Tefik and K.
Tomovski, the exact year is 966 AH or 1558-59, while according to
the latest calculation (Ebjed Hesap) of E. Ayverdi and M. Asimov,
the exact year of construction is 961 AH or 1553-54.
Isaac
Mosque
It was built in 1506, by the famous kadi Isak Celebi.
There are several tombs in her large courtyard, attractive because
of the fine shapes of the sarcophagi. It is located opposite the
Clock Tower and the Bezisten. This mosque has a minaret about 50
meters high, due to which the mosque simply dominates the space.
Bezisten
Bezisten is mentioned in a description of the city
from the 16th and 17th centuries. The current bezisten does not
differ much from the appearance of the then. Bezisten has 86 shops
and 4 large iron gates. The shops used to sell textiles, and today
the shops have different economic activities, some of which are
offices.
Deboy Bath
Deboy is a Turkish bath - hammam. It
is not known when it was built. It is badly damaged, but after
repairs it now has the old look of two large domes and several small
and striking facades.
Heraclea
Lyncestis - a settlement from the Hellenistic, Roman, Late Antiquity
and Middle Ages;
Almond Ballerina - a coin depot from the Middle
Ages;
Gurgur Tumba - a settlement from the Neolithic period;
Jewish Cemetery - a settlement from the Neolithic period;
Kale -
a settlement from the Middle Ages;
St. Trinity - basilica from
early Christian times;
Bitola is connected by road to the rest of Macedonia and an
additional part of Greece. The more important road routes are
Bitola-Lerin, Bitola-Ohrid (via Resen), Bitola-Kicevo and the
Bitola-Skopje road.
Bitola is connected by rail to Lerin (south)
and Prilep, Veles and Skopje (north), and in 2010 81,000 passengers
departed from Bitola railway station.
Public bus urban transport
also operates in the city. Organized regular bus or train service to the
surrounding settlements.
According to the last population census of Macedonia from 2002, the city had 74,550 inhabitants and belonged to the group of large cities. Although Gorno Orizari is statistically considered a separate settlement, it is still part of the city of Bitola. Together with the suburban settlement of Gorno Orizari (2,454 inhabitants), which is kept separately in the official censuses, Bitola had a total population of 77,004 inhabitants. According to the 2021 Census, Bitola has 71,808 inhabitants, including the Gorno Orizari settlement, which is urbanized and an integral part of the city.
Bitola is an episcopal city and seat of the Prespa-Pelagonian
diocese. In the Second World War, this diocese was named Ohrid-Bitola.
With the restoration of the autocephaly of the Macedonian Orthodox
Church in 1967, it received the current name of the Prespa-Pelagonian
Diocese and covers the regions of the cities: Bitola, Resen, Prilep,
Krushevo and Demir Hisar.
The first metropolitan of the diocese
(1958 - 1979) was the blessed Clement. The second metropolitan and
current administrator of the diocese, competent as archbishop since
1981, is Mr. Petar. There are about 500 churches and monasteries in the
Prespa-Pelagonian diocese. In the last ten years, about 40 churches and
140 church buildings have been built or are being built in the diocese.
The diocese has two church museums - in the cathedral "St. Great Martyr
Dimitrij" in Bitola and in the temple "St. Jovan" in Krushevo, as well
as a permanent exhibition of icons and libraries in the building of the
Bitola Metropolis. It was built between 1901 and 1902 and is one of the
most beautiful examples of neo-baroque architecture. In addition to the
dominant Macedonian Orthodox Church, there are other larger religious
communities in Bitola, such as the Islamic Religious Community, the
Roman Catholic Church and others.
Bitola as the city of the
consuls
The City of Consuls is the second name for the city of
Bitola. At the height of its glory, Bitola had twenty consulates, but
gradually with the weakening of the state, with the coming to power of
the Karađorđević dynasty, and later communism, that number gradually
decreased to only a few consulates. With the independence of Macedonia,
consulates begin to open again and the city regains its former glory.
The time of the consuls
During the Ottoman Empire, the city had
many consuls from all important countries, so Bitola was considered a
consular city. On July 26, 1903, the Russian consul Alexander
Arkadyevich Rostkovsky, a fighter for the rights of the oppressed
Orthodox Raya, was executed at the entrance to the city. A large Russian
cross stands today at the site of the execution.
Universities
University "St. Clement of Ohrid".
BAS — Smilevski
Business Academy.
Secondary schools in the city
"Josip
Broz-Tito" High School,
"Taki Daskalo" High School - Bitola,
Traffic, graphics, mining and textile school (Economic school, part of
Taki Daskalo)
"Dr. Jovan Kalauzi" Medical School,
Economic School
"Jane Sandanski",
Agricultural School "Kuzman Shapkarev",
Electromechanical School "Gyorgji Naumov",
"Secondary music school"
of the city of Bitola.
State School for Deaf-Mute Persons — Bitola.
Private secondary schools in Bitola
High School "First Private
High School - Bitola",
Private secondary vocational school "SABA",
Primary schools in the city
OU "Goce Delchev" - Bitola,
OU
"Dame Gruev" - Bitola,
POU "Dame Gruev" - Dolno Orizari,
POU "Dame
Gruev" - Karamani,
OU "Dr. Trifun Panovski" - Bitola,
OU "Giorgji
Sugarev" - Bitola,
OU "Elpida Karamandi" - Bitola,
OU "Kole
Kaninski" - Bitola,
COU "Todor Angelevski" - Bitola,
Todor
Angelevski - Gorno Orizari settlement,
Todor Angelevski - Strelishte
settlement
OU "St. Cyril and Methodius" - Bitola,
POU "St. Cyril
and Methodius" - Logovardi,
OU "St. Kliment Ohridski" - Bitola,
OU
"Steve Naumov" - Bitola,
Primary schools in the surrounding
villages
OU "Slavko Lumbarkovski" - Novaci,
OU "Krste Petkov
Misirkov" - Bistrica,
OU "Krste Petkov Misirkov" - Kravari
(five-year-old girl)
OU "Alexandar Turundzhiev" - Kukurechani,
OU
"Kocho Racin" - Ivanjevci,
OU "Kocho Racin" - Dolno Srpci,
OU
"Brača Miladinovci" - Dobrushevo,
OU "Trajan Belev" - Tsapari,
OU
"Mirce Acev" - Bach
OU "Goce Delchev" - Mogila
Awards and
recognitions
2011: Balkan Alliance of Hotel Associations (BAHA) —
Balkan leader in the development of cultural tourism
2012: Lugano
Tourism and Culture Fair, Switzerland — The most prestigious destination
in the Balkans for cultural heritage and festival programs.
Atanas Lozanchev (April 8, 1870 - Sofia, Bulgaria, November 8, 1945)
- revolutionary, participant in the Macedonian revolutionary movement,
member, head and duke of MRO
Raphael Kamhi (December 15, 1870 - Tel
Aviv, July 8, 1970) - Macedonian revolutionary, participant in the
Macedonian revolutionary movement
Gjorgi Sugarev (1876 - Paralovo,
March 23, 1906) - revolutionary, member and duke of the Bitola
Revolutionary District of MRO
Rajna Alexova (1882 - 1959) - the first
female pharmacist in Macedonia
Stefan Naumov - Steve (1920-1942) -
communist, participant in NOV, national hero
Dimitar Nikolovski –
Taki Daskalo (November 17, 1921 - May 3, 1942), participant in NOV
Aco Stefanovski (December 10, 1922 – March 10, 1985, Bitola) -
Macedonian film and theater actor, member of the Bitola National Theater
since its foundation in 1944
Estreja Ovadia - Mara (1923 - 1944) -
participant in NOV, a national hero
Meri Boshkova (May 2, 1924 -
Skopje, March 25, 2014) — Macedonian theater, television and film
actress, doyen of the Macedonian acting art
Kiril Makedonski (1925 -
1984) - Macedonian composer
Airi Demirovski (1927 - October 21, 2009)
— Macedonian musician of Turkish origin, author of the song "Bitola, my
native land"
Jonche Hristovski (1931 - Skopje, April 15, 2000) -
singer, songwriter and composer
Petar Angelovski (1931 - 2003) -
Macedonian scenographer
Vladimir Kostov (September 22, 1932) -
Macedonian writer of novels, short prose and literature for children and
young people
Krste Krstevski - Krtsul (1940 - April 18, 2019) —
Macedonian athlete, former football and handball referee, football
delegate and versatile athlete
Violeta Tomovska (1945) - Macedonian
pop and folk music singer
Slave Dimitrov (June 1, 1946) - Macedonian
composer, singer, arranger and music producer
Margita Kon-Popovska
(November 23, 1948) - Macedonian computer scientist
Kire Kostov
(1949) - Macedonian composer, instrumentalist and conductor
Sashka
Petkovska (1951 - Svetinikolsko, August 31, 1983) - Macedonian singer
Goran Stefanovski (April 27, 1952 – Canterbury, Great Britain, November
27, 2018) - Macedonian playwright.
Ilko Stefanovski (1952 - December
6, 2011) - Macedonian theater and film actor
Dimitar Ilievski -
Murato (1953 - 1989) - mountaineer, the first Macedonian to climb Mount
Everest
Mitko Apostolovski (March 7, 1955 - August 5, 2022) -
Macedonian actor
Jovica Mihajlovski (June 12, 1955) - Macedonian
actor
Toni Savevski (June 14, 1963) - Macedonian soccer player
Jani Makraduli (1966) - Macedonian politician
Sasha Nikolovski (1966)
- Macedonian conductor
Margarita Hristova (1973) - Macedonian singer
Olivera Nakovska - Bikova (1974) - archery athlete, winner of a gold
medal at the 2012 Paralympic Games
Gjorgi Hristov (January 30, 1976)
- Macedonian soccer player
Igor Durlovski (1977) - Macedonian opera
singer
Nikolce Noveski (1979) - Macedonian soccer player
Karolina
Gocheva (April 28, 1980) - pop singer
Ismail Lumanovski (August 19,
1984) - clarinet virtuoso from New York
Pece Maticevski (1969 – 2001)
— Macedonian defender
Blagojche Siljanov (1969 – 2001) — Macedonian
defender
Vlatko Milenkovski (1972 – 2001) — Macedonian defender
Marjan Bojinovski (1974 – 2001) — Macedonian defender
Kire
Kostadinovski (1976 – 2001) — Macedonian defender
Boshko Najdovski
(1976 – 2001) — Macedonian defender
Ilche Stojanovski (1976 – 2001) —
Macedonian defender