The Church of the Holy Mother of God is located in the center of the city of Bitola, on the right bank of the river Dragor next to the school St. Cyril and Methodius. It is one of the most beautiful churches in the region. It is the second largest church in Bitola and it was built in the period 1870-71 with the help of Dr. Konstantin Mishaikov and Dimitrie Robev (according to the memorial plaque that is still preserved in the Metropolitanate in Bitola.
 |
| Front of the church |
Architecture
This church is a three-nave basilica, with porches on the southern, northern and western sides and with multi-colored galleries. But, unlike the church of St. Dimitrija, here also appears the form of a bulb, which, together with other elements such as oval windows, the baroque attic of the northern portal and similar elements, clearly indicates the pervasiveness of the neo-baroque influences, but locally modified in a traditional type of sacral object, characteristically for the 19th century in this area. Such European influences are quite logical if we consider the period when the trade relations of Bitola with Europe were built, as well as the education of the young bourgeoisie in those countries. The very building of this church, which later became a cathedral church of the Bulgarian Exarchate, in fact expresses the entire struggle of Bitola's citizenship against the Hellenization.
 |
| Back of the church |
Special emphasis should be placed on the interior. The iconostasis in this church consists of parts of the iconostasis from the church of St. Dimitrie from the village Magarevo, as well as parts of the iconostasis from the church of St. Virgin Mary in the village Trnovo. It is a whole of works of two different woodworking workshops. The Trnovo iconostasis is a work of epic carvers, which in these areas come after the great violence of Turkish pashas. Some think that the iconostasis from the church in the village Magarevo, was taken away by the Germans in World War I, and others - based on the statements of elderly people who remember the iconostasis - consider it to be the same iconostasis that is found in the church of St. Virgin Mary in Bitola.
