The Place du Mechouar is the great formal square of upper Laayoune — an enormous open plaza built in the 1980s to host parades and royal ceremonies, lined on its eastern side by the imposing Great Mosque with its tall white minaret. The square is paved in pale tile and dominated by a tall ceremonial arch; reviewing stands flank it. It is impressively scaled but, like most of upper Laayoune, often nearly empty.
The square is a useful orientation point: most of the modern town's monumental architecture is within ten minutes' walk, including the Hotel Parador and the Wilaya administrative complex. Visit in the late afternoon when the light softens the white stone.