Soli

Soli was the medieval name of a town and district in northeastern Bosnia, centred on the salt springs from which it drew its name. People had obtained salt from the waters since ancient times, boiling brine in pans. The district passed to the Bosnian ban Stjepan II in 1324, and the valuable springs continued to support a settlement among the surrounding hills.

Under Ottoman rule the name Tuzla, also associated with salt, came into use. Upper and Lower Tuzla grew through salt production, crafts and trade; both districts appear in a register of 1512. Between the two towns stood the Franciscan monastery at Gradovrh, rebuilt in 1541 with Sultan Süleyman's permission by the local Catholic nobleman Petar Soić. It continued to serve the region until the wars of the late seventeenth century.