Kula u Teocaku

Due to its fortress and strategic position, overlooking the Drina and Sava rivers, Bijeljina and Brcko and settlements in Semberija plain, Teocak had played a significant role in the far past. The remains of medieval fortress and related settlements can be seen in Teocak. Below the fortress there are remains of the mosque assumed that was built by the Sultan Faith II, after the 1474 when the Hungarian took over the fortress. The population of area around Teočak was of Christian origin and memory on Hungarian and Roman churches and monastery still live in folk tradition in Teocak. There were two necropolises of stecaks (medieval Bosnian tombstones) in localities of Mramor and Harci and some of the stecaks remain preserved until present.During the medieval times, the situation in the area was very turbulent with frequent changes of rulers: from Hungarian kings and Serbian despots to Bosnian rulers. When first mentioned in medieval period this area called Soli (Salt, or Tuzla) was part of Serbia, ruled by the Serbian king Dragutin since 1284, and his sons Vladislav and Uros as his ancestors.The orthodox Russian nobleman, Rotislav Mihailovic, the son in law of Hungarian king Bela, ruled the area in the period 1255-1264. It is known that the Serbian despots (prince) Stefan Lazarević and Đurađ Branković also ruled the area. The history of the old town of Srebrenica recording 13 different rulers in the period 1411-1463 speaks about utterly unstable and turbulent situation in the area before Turkish invasion.

The similar situation was shared by the most significant medieval fortified town in the Ugljevik region, the town of Teocak. First mention of Teocak in historical records dates back to 1423 related to the Serbian despot Djuradj Brankovic (1427-1456), who took over the town from Hungarians (and got the right tu rule over the western Podrinje ) and started rebuilding and construction works (legends related to reconstruction, forced labor and milk running through the waterpipes still preserved in local tradition). It can be assumed that in this period the small fort was enlarged and emerged into the fortified medieval town of Teocak. It can be assumed that in this period a church was erected in Teocak, keeping the relics of St. Luca the Evangelist for certain period (later on rebuilt and turned into the mosque that still exists and according to some estimations presents the oldest mosque in BiH). After the fall of Bosnia under the Turks in 1463, the Hungarians kept control over the Teocak until 1521 when, together with Srebrenik, it was taken by the Turks (Srebrenicka banovina).