Galleries and passages: Treasures of Brussels’ Architectural Heritage

These galleries - there are in fact three: the Queen's Gallery, the King's Gallery and the Princes' Gallery - are undoubtedly the best known in the capital. Just a stone's throw from the glittering Grand-Place, they are renowned for their brilliance and the incomparable beauty of their structure and decor. Shortly before the middle of the 19th century, work began to restore the prestige of this area of the city centre. After just 13 months' work, under the direction of architect Cluysenaar, the galleries were inaugurated in June 1847. The result? A magnificent architectural achievement, with a breathtaking glass roof whose dimensions are the result of some remarkable engineering. Originally, they housed 70 luxury boutiques and around a hundred private flats. The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries are also famous for having hosted the country's first cinema screening and for being the birthplace of the praline, which originated in the Neuhaus pharmacy. Even today, you can enjoy luxury boutiques, restaurants and cafes, a theatre whose largest room boasts a cloudy ceiling brilliantly painted by Magritte, and a cinema.

Have you ever spotted the Bortier Gallery, which bears the name of its creator? It was designed by Cluysenaar and inaugurated in September 1848. Don't hesitate to go inside and admire the rich ornamentation, made mainly of marble and cast iron - a new material at the time - which also served as a structural element. If you're a fan of books, you're more likely than most to know the place, as it has long been renowned for its stalls stocked with old and second-hand books, a real treasure trove for bookworms! The site has been enjoying something of a renaissance since the end of 2024. It now boasts a number of food counters, thus combining culture and food.

The Passage du Nord gallery is the second most important thoroughfare in Brussels, just after the Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries. It is more recent, having been designed by architect Henri Rieck and built in 1881-1882. The construction of this glass-roofed walkway took place against the backdrop of a key urban development project in Brussels: the vaulting of the River Senne and the development of the central boulevards, from around 1870 to 1880. An architectural marvel linking two major urban axes - boulevard Adolphe Max and the famous rue Neuve - the opulent appearance of this passageway is well worth a visit. Like the first two members of this list, it has a glass roof, but more importantly it boasts an abundant décor: take a look at the 32 caryatids, that give it an unmistakable charm. While the ground floor is devoted to shops - 34 at the time, some of which have remained in their magnificent original setting, such as the ‘Coutellerie du Roi’ cutlery store - the upper floors were previously occupied by various rooms devoted mainly to culture and entertainment. Today, they are being transformed into co-living spaces.

Although that's it for the older galleries, you'd be wrong to think that Brussels doesn't have other, more recent, but nonetheless significant galleries.

Galerie Ravenstein is a well-known link between the upper and lower parts of the city for commuters who use Brussels Central Station on a daily basis. It was designed by architects Alexis and Philippe Dumont and built between 1954 and 1958 in the International Style, the low-cost trend that emerged from Modernism. You'll no doubt admire the imposing concrete dome encrusted with hundreds of glass bricks... On the other side of Brussels Central Station, the Horta Gallery is more discreet. It links the transport hub to place d'Espagne and leads you to the city centre and the sumptuous Grand-Place. This gallery also has a vast rotunda and frequently hosts cultural and artistic events. The Galerie du Centre, built between 1951 and 1953, is notable for its interior layout: a central block around which a circular promenade is organised, all covered by a concrete and glass roof. It contains shops, housing and a cinema. If you enter through the main entrance on rue des Fripiers and turn round, you'll be able to see the medieval-style alleys and cul-de-sacs that surround the Grand-Place, giving you a real insight into medieval town planning.