Heraclea of Macedonia | The Ancient City of Heracles Built by Philip of Macedon

In the present Republic of Macedonia, right next to the city Bitola is the ancient site Heraclea. Known as Heraclea Lyncestis, this city was built by the father of Alexander the Great, Philip of Macedon in honor of Heracles, the legendary ancestor of the Macedonian royal family, a divine hero from the times that we don't know very much about.

Lyncestida was a region in Macedonia, it is believed that Alexander's grandmother was from Stibera, another ancient city in the region. Heraclea and Bitola are in base of the mountain Baba - which means "a grandmother" in macedonian language. The old name of Bitola was Monastir, with meaning "a temple", because of the temple of Heracles in the city Heraclea. The city of Hercules or Heracles amazes with its architecture, the ancient theatre, rare mosaics and its important cultural heritage not only of Macedonia and the region, but of Europe and the whole world.

There is a theory that the name Minas Tirit in the famous book "Lord of the Rings" was inspired from the Manastirot - Monastir, Heraclea in Macedonia. 

In the centuries after the glorious Macedonian empire of Philip and Alexander, Heraclea Lynkestida stayed an important city, it was a well known station not only on the ancient macedonian highway which later was reconstructed to Via Egnatia, but also in the middle ages. This site is one of the most visited tourist attractions in Macedonia.

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