Bus from BITOLA to BIJELJINA

Bitola 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 north of 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 is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It has been known since the Ottoman period as "The City of The Consuls", since many European countries had consulates in Bitola.

Bitola, known during the Ottoman Empire as Manastir/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 Ottoman Rumelia, from 1836 to 1867. According to the 2002 census, Bitola is the second-largest city in the country.

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 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 has been part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network since December 2015.

Bijeljina is the city and center of the municipality of the same name in the northeastern part of the Republic of Srpska. The municipality's area is 734 km² and the total population is approximately 114,663. The city is the historical center of Semberija and one of the richest cities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a fertile plain town, it is one of the centers for the production and trade of food. Bijeljina is recognizable by the spacious central square, whose beauty enhances the pleasant ambience of the City Park.

In May 2012, the Government of the Republic of Srpska made a decision to change the status of the municipality of Bijeljina by which Bijeljina was granted the status of the city in 1992.

In the area of ​​Bijeljina municipality, for now the oldest confirmed traces of human life originate from the young Stone Age (5000-3000 BC). Remains from the period of the Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Age and Antique period were also recorded. Locations Gradac and Agricultural Land were searched in Batković, Glavičice, Kućerina in Dvorovi, Kočinovac village, Brodić in Triješnica, and from the ancient period, a Roman villa was discovered at the location of Prekaja in Brodac, and in Velika Obarska was found a lead tile of cult purposes with a play 'Danubian horsemen'.

The most famous Old Serbian and Old Slavic site was explored on both sides of Bistrica between the villages of Batković and Ostojićevo and consisted of 4 localities between the 7th and 12th centuries. It is especially important that a large complex of workshops in the metallurgical settlement where the ancestors in the 8th century dissolved iron and produced iron tools was explored at the Čelopek locality, as clearly evidenced by the finding of the gus - graphite pot kept in the Bijeljina Museum. At this time, the settlement of Bistrica, the likely name of Bistrica, was undoubtedly the center of the parish which encompassed the entire plain before Bijeljina emerged.

The first mention of the name Bijeljina is lost in the distant past. In the "Yearbook of Pop Dukljanin" one victory of Zahumski prince Bele - Pavlimiro against Hungarians "is mentioned in the Belina plain". Today in science it is believed that the first sure significance of the settlement of Bijeljina was that of March 3, 1446, when a Dubrovnik merchant was robbed by the people of Ilica Ban.

Bijeljina is a rare city that has only changed the entire population in only the last 500 years. For the first time it was with the arrival of the Turks in 1520, and the second time with the arrival of the Austrians in 1716. According to the Zvornik Sandzak census in 1533, only 4 villages are mentioned in the abandoned Bijeljina region: Cetvrtkovište, Mirkovci (Dašnica), Grm (Galac) and Čukojevići (Modran) with 55 houses in total. In the next census of 1548, there were 17 villages with 772 houses, of which 554 were Orthodox and 218 Muslim. From this time also is the oldest building in the Bijeljina municipality, which is the spiritual center of the Serbs of this region - the Tavna Monastery, the non-Banjanic endowment.