Modriča

Modriča (Cyrillic: Модрича) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located near the towns of Šamac, Derventa and Doboj. After the war, prewar municipal borders were changed, villages of Jakeš, Pećnik and Modrički Lug were excluded from Modriča and included in new Vukosavlje municipality, and a few villages from the western part of prewar Gradačac municipality were included, thus the size of the municipality changed substantially.

History

The first written document about Modrica is 13th century charter of Hungarian King Bele IV in which Modrica is mentioned as spring: "...fons Modricha, ubi cadit in Boznam “, but it all indicates that it was minor stream which was flowing into Bosna river. According to traditional stories, Modrica was named after the small river with blue, mountain water. It is assumed that the small river is Dusa. According to other narratives, area bears the name of the old Slavic marks of the blue sky and distances, which are more discerned on the horizon than visible – modrina (the blue)/modriča.