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Zandan Tower Zandan Tower (Macedonian: Зандан куле) is a former Ottoman defensive and prison tower in Bitola, North Macedonia. It was built in the early 17th century by Haci Mahmud Efendi, the mufti of Bitola, on a private homestead next to a multi-family housing block in which Turkish and Albanian residents lived. It is accessed via a staircase leading up to the double door made of thick oak wood on the tower's south façade.[1][2] Standing 10.95 m (35.9 ft) in height, its exterior walls are all roughly 1 m (3.3 ft) thick or greater. The interior is made up of three stories, with the upper floor setup as a dwelling.[3] The tower is connected with the Nakşbendi order of Sufism. Its builder, also known as Hırka Baba, lived a secluded spiritual life with his family on this homestead. It became a place of pilgrimage for a period after his death in 1628. During the Ilinden Uprising of 1903, the tower was used as a prison for rebels, from whence the tower gets its present name (zandan meaning dungeon in Macedonian).[3] Today, Zandan Tower is within the yard of the school "Stefan Naumov".[4] It is listed as an Object of Cultural Heritage by the Ministry of Culture.[5] See alsoReferences
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