Teslić (Cyrillic Теслић; German outdated Teslitsch) is a small
town in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Republika Srpska.
Teslić is a relatively young town that emerged with
industrialization in Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of the 19th
century. Under the rule of Austria-Hungary, the timber industry in
Teslić emerged with the construction of the Destiliacija, a company
for turpentine distillation and the processing of wood. The
narrow-gauge railway line (760 mm) Pribinić – Teslić was used to
transport the wood. A forest railway in the Usora valley and the
surrounding area (largest extension to Banja Luka) supplied the
Destiliacija production facility with logs and stumps. In addition
to the wood industry, there was also a chemical industry that dealt
with the conversion of natural raw materials into synthetic raw
materials.
Since 1919, Teslić has also been a tourist
destination thanks to the establishment of the Banja Vrućica spa.
Teslić was one of the most important economic centers in Bosnia and
Herzegovina until the late 1950s. Today the economy in Teslić is
concentrated on wood production, milk production, clothing industry
and electrical industry.
Teslic is also known as a tourist destination, mainly because of Banja Vručica, a medicinal bath for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. The complex consists of five hotels with a capacity of over 1000 beds.
From the 7th century until the reign of Časlav Klonimirović, the
parish of Usora was part of the independent Serbian state. Since the
reign of the Bosnian Ban Kulin (1170-1204), the ruling religion in
Bosnia has been Bogomilism. Bogumilstvo was almost completely lost
by the 15th century. From that time, the most important monuments
are the stećci, of which there were a lot in these areas, the whole
of Gomjenica and the area of Rudopolje.
The urban center of
Teslić itself was built upon the arrival of the Austro-Hungarian
Monarchy, in the last decade of the 19th century. Before the
construction of the city, there was no settlement at that place, and
the field itself was called Tabor-polje. Places in the vicinity of
today's Teslić, such as Čečava, Banja Vrućica and Pribinić, are far
older than the town of Teslić. Some of them date back to the Middle
Ages.
Teslić is also known as a tourist destination, mainly because of Banja Vrućica, where cardio-vascular diseases are treated. With a complex of five hotels and a capacity of more than 1,000 beds, Banja Vrućica is one of the largest tourist facilities in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The nearby mountain Borja is also important, with two hotels and sports facilities.
The urban center itself was built with the arrival of the
Austro-Hungarian monarchy in the last decade of the nineteenth century,
and the original population (mainly professional staff for the
construction of the Wood Distillation, Sawmill and accompanying
facilities, and the vast network of narrow-gauge railways, partly
intercity and partly forest) was brought administratively from the wider
area of the monarchy, so that almost every Austro-Hungarian province
during the founding and construction of Teslić until the First World War
had its representatives in one of the groups of workers and officials
located in "colonies" or villas along the city park.
According to
the official population census from 1991, the municipality of Teslić had
59,854 inhabitants, distributed in 44 settlements. After the signing of
the Dayton Agreement, the municipality of Teslić, almost in its
entirety, became part of the Republic of Srpska. The Federation of
Bosnia and Herzegovina included parts of inhabited places: Blatnica and
Jezera.