Overview
In Ottoman Monastir, now Bitola, many Sephardic families lived in large residential compounds arranged around shared courtyards. These dwellings supported extended families and tenants while placing cooking, washing, childcare, religious observance, and neighborhood interaction within common spaces. Houses differed according to wealth and changed as the population expanded, fires occurred, and new urban regulations appeared. The built environment therefore shaped communal relationships without eliminating social inequality. Studying Monastir’s homes alongside synagogues, schools, markets, and cemeteries reveals how Sephardic identity was sustained through ordinary domestic routines as much as through formal institutions.
