The ruins from Illyrian period confirm that the area of Široki Brijeg had a big population even in pre-historic times. The residues can be seen on the hill Gradina which on the frontier of Mokri and Čerigaj. There can be even today seen the walls of the forts where they have been in past. Even in the ancient period they was a plenty of life in that region. From that period (Roman empire) there are residues of the Roman fort (refugium) in the village Biogradci and basilica in Mokri, plus there are remainings of the forts and roads.Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos is mentioning the city Mokriskik built in that area.
Middle ages
The basilica in Mokri was built and destroyed several times in the Middle Ages and it was used for its purpose. In her neighbourhood is nekrepola with stećak,which are present elsewhere. There number and size indicate that this region was (from 12th till 15th century) has been very populated and rich. From that period on Kočerin was kept the longest tablet on stećak written with Bosnian Cyrillic, known as Kočerinska ploča („Kočerin tablet“). The residues of middle-age fort can be found in the Bork, close to the source of river Lištica.
Ottoman rule
After the Turkish conquest in the middle of 15th century the population was mainly rural rural and in the mountains. Until the middle of 19th century, Herzegovina was cut off from social, cultural and political events in other European countries. The only remaining leaders were Franciscans.
World war two and afterwards
During the Second World War Ustaše held the city together with Italian troops. During their presence, the Italians built a couple forts for the city observation.
Like most of the West Herzegovina cities, Široki Brijeg was labeled as a pro-Ustaše and a pro-fascisct region. Therefore it was demonized by the officials of SFRY and was therefore renamed to Lištica (by
