1909–1919 · four corner bays
A turreted officers' club begun by the Ottomans in 1909 and finished under Serbian rule in 1919, renovated in 2021.
These are the stories you can open in the 3D view, each at its own numbered point on the model.
At the southern end of Širok Sokak, beside the City Park, stands the Officers' Home, a bright white palace in an eclectic style. Its footprint is about 37 by 18 metres. The cornice runs at 13.9 metres and the roof rises to 17.3 metres. Three floors sit on a stone plinth, and four tower-like bays mark its corners.
Abdul Kerim Pasha began the building in 1909 as a club for Ottoman officers. Before it was finished, the Balkan Wars and the First World War changed the borders, and Bitola passed out of Ottoman rule in 1912. The house was completed in 1919, under Serbian rule. The masons came from the village of Smilevo.
Look at the doors and windows of the central hall. Their horseshoe arches, a shape associated with Moorish architecture, sit within a façade of European cornices, balustrades and round windows. Mixing styles like this is called eclecticism, and it was popular around 1900. On the corner bays, smaller arches crown the top floor.
A wide stair leads up from the garden terrace to the arched doors of the main hall. Decorative cannons on the terrace recall that this was a house for army officers. Today the terrace in front of the building is used for open-air events, such as evening concerts with the white façade as a backdrop.
In Yugoslav times the building served as the Home of the Yugoslav People's Army, known as Dom na JNA. Later it fell into disrepair. Photographs from August 2016 show the great hall in ruins, with only the remains of its chandelier hanging from the ceiling.
A full renovation was completed in 2021, at a cost of about 59 million denars, or roughly 960,000 euros. In 2022 the building was declared cultural heritage. The façade is bright white again, and at night floodlights from the terrace pick out its arches, balconies and corner bays.
Typical prices are our estimates for orientation, not menu prices. Check opening hours on the spot.
Walk around the model, switch between day and night, and hear each story read aloud in English, Macedonian or Turkish.
Open in 3D
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