The building in which today is housed the Bitola museum was built as a military school in 1848 when the city of Bitola (Monastir) was a military, administrative, political, and commercial center of the then European Turkey.
In 1900 with the relocation of the Military Academy from Constantinople to Bitola, this building became a Military Academy and as such works until 1909. From 1909 to 1912 it served as a high military school – military gymnasium.
Among famous cadets who are educated in this facility were: Mustafa Kemal Ataturk – the founder and first president of the modern Republic of Turkey, Ali Feti Bey and Nijazi Bey leader of the Young Turk revolution in 1908.
Among the well-known professors of the Military Academy was Mehmed Tefik Bay, who wrote the book: “Кратка историја на Битолскиот вилает: споменар во чест на доаѓањето на милиот и слободоумен султан во лулката на слободатa” (A Brief History of the Bitola Vilayet: a diary in honor of the arrival of loving and minded Sultan in the cradle freedom” in 1911 on the occasion of the visit of Sultan Reshad V in Bitola.
From the Balkan wars until 1974, the building was used as a military barracks.
By a decision of the Assembly of the Municipality of Bitola in 1976, the object gets a new purpose and within is located the institution – Institute for Protection of Cultural Monuments and Natural Rarities, or as it is known today – NI Institute and Museum of Bitola.
In architectural terms, the building is a synthesis of Western European and Oriental architecture. Simple and humble neo-renaissance style facades and basic functional conception of the building complements Oriental stylistic elements of windows, entrances, and facades.
