The area outside the walls of the old medina that is now United Nations Square, used to be the location of the Souq Kbir (سوق كبير), also referred to as le Grand Socco, before French colonization.

The square was then named Place de France, "Square of France," and the surrounding area was developed by a team of French architects and urban planners chosen by the French Résident général Hubert Lyautey and led by Henri Prost.

The Magasins Paris-Maroc building (1914), constructed by Hippolyte Delaporte and Auguste Perret, was located at the southern end of Place de France.

"[6] The clock tower was demolished in 1948, together with several of the square's buildings that stood on the way of the Avenue des Forces Armées Royales, created under the new urban planning proposed by Michel Écochard.

A clock tower imitating the original's design was constructed a short distance closer to the medina in 1993.