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The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries (French: Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert; Dutch: Koninklijke Sint-Hubertusgalerijen) is an ensemble of three glazed shopping arcades in central Brussels, Belgium. It consists of the King's Gallery (French: Galerie du Roi; Dutch: Koningsgalerij), the Queen's Gallery (French: Galerie de la Reine; Dutch: Koninginnegalerij) and the Princes' Gallery (French: Galerie des Princes; Dutch: Prinsengalerij).
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| Location | City of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium |
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| Coordinates | 50°50′51″N 4°21′18″E |
| Address | Rue du Marché aux Herbes / Grasmarkt 90 |
| Opening date | 20 June 1847 |
| Architect | Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar |
| Public transit access | |
| Website | Official website |
The galleries were designed and built by the architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar between 1846 and 1847,[1][2] and precede other famous 19th-century European shopping arcades, such as the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan and the Passage in Saint Petersburg.[3] Like them, they have twin regular façades with distant origins in Vasari's long narrow street-like courtyard of the Uffizi in Florence, with glazed arched shopfronts separated by pilasters and two upper floors, all in an Italianate Cinquecento style, under an arched glass-paned roof with a delicate cast-iron framework. The complex was designated a historic monument in 1986.[4]
The galleries are located in the block between the Rue du Marché aux Herbes/Grasmarkt and the Rue de la Montagne/Bergstraat to the south and east, the Rue d'Arenberg/Arenbergstraat and the Rue de l'Ecuyer/Schildknaapsstraat to the north, and the Rue des Dominicains/Predikherenstraat and the Rue des Bouchers/Beenhouwersstraat to the west.[3] This site is served by Brussels-Central railway station.
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The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries were designed by the young architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar, who determined to sweep away a warren of ill-lit alleyways between the Rue du Marché aux Herbes/Grasmarkt and the Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères/Warmoesberg and replace a sordid space where the bourgeoisie scarcely ventured into with a covered shopping arcade more than 200 m (660 ft) in length.[5] His idea, conceived in 1836, was finally authorised in February 1845. The partnership Société des Galeries Saint-Hubert, in which the banker Jean-André Demot took an interest, was established by the summer of that year, but nine years were required to disentangle all the property rights, assembled by rights of eminent domain, during a process that caused one property owner to die of a stroke, and a barber, it was said, to slit his throat as the adjacent house came down.[6]
Construction started on 6 May 1846, lasting for thirteen months, and the 213-metre-long (699 ft) passage was inaugurated on 20 June 1847 by King Leopold I and his two sons.[7][1][2] In 1845, the Société named the three sections of the new passage the Galerie du Roi/Koningsgalerij ("King's Gallery"), the Galerie de la Reine/Koninginnegalerij ("Queen's Gallery") and the Galerie des Princes/Prinsengalerij ("Princes' Gallery").[8] The ensemble, called the Passage Saint-Hubert ("Saint-Hubert Passage") has borne its present name since 1965.
Under its motto Omnibus omnia ("Everything for everybody"), displayed in the fronton of its palace-like façade,[3] the Saint-Hubert Galleries were an immediate success and became the favourite meeting and strolling place for Brussels' residents and tourists. Brilliantly lit, they offered the luxury of outdoor cafés in Brussels' inclement climate, in an ambiance of luxury retailers that brought to the city the true feel of a European capital.[9] In the premises of La Chronique daily newspaper, on 1 March 1896, the first public showing of moving pictures took place of the cinematographers Lumière, fresh from their initial triumph in Paris.[10][2]
A theatre inside the King's Gallery, the Royal Theatre of the Galleries, was designed by Cluysenaar and opened 7 June 1847. It became one of three royal theatres of Brussels, alongside the Royal Theatre of La Monnaie and the Royal Park Theatre, playing operetta and revues. Its interior was rebuilt in 1950–51 by the architect Paul Bonduelle.[11] Another theatre, the Théâtre du Vaudeville, located in the former premises of the Casino des Galeries Saint-Hubert inside the Queen's Gallery, was inaugurated in 1884.[12] Still inside the Queen's Gallery, a cinema, the Cinéma des Galeries, was built in 1939 by Bonduelle.[10]
The Royal Galleries were designated a historic monument on 19 November 1986.[4] In 2008, they were submitted for World Heritage inscription and are included in UNESCO's "Tentative List" in the cultural heritage category.[9] Nowadays, the King's Gallery is home to the Museum of Letters and Manuscripts, which honours the greatest men and women of art, history, music, the humanities and science.[2]
The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries (King's Gallery pictured) in the late 19th century
View of the south entrance to the galleries in 1884, illustration from Bruxelles à travers les âges
Interior view of the galleries in 1884
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The Royal Galleries consist of two major sections, each more than 100 metres (330 feet) in length (respectively called the Galerie du Roi/Koningsgalerij, meaning "King's Gallery", and the Galerie de la Reine/Koninginnegalerij, meaning "Queen's Gallery"), and a smaller side gallery (the Galerie des Princes/Prinsengalerij, meaning "Princes' Gallery"). The main sections (King's and Queen's Gallery) are separated by a peristyle at the point where the Rue des Bouchers/Beenhouwersstraat crosses the gallery complex. At this point, there is a discontinuity in the straight perspective of the galleries. This "bend" was introduced purposefully in order to make the long perspective of the galleries, with its repetition of arches, pilasters and windows, less tedious.[13]
- The King's Gallery (French: Galerie du Roi, Dutch: Koningsgalerij) stretches from the Rue des Bouchers to the Rue d'Arenberg/Arenbergstraat and the Rue de l'Ecuyer/Schildknaapsstraat.[3] It notably houses the Royal Theatre of the Galleries.[14]
- The Queen's Gallery (French: Galerie de la Reine, Dutch: Koninginnegalerij), to the south, leads to the Rue du Marché aux Herbes/Grasmarkt, near the Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square),[3] and on the other side of this street begins the Horta Gallery. Its best known shops are Delvaux leather goods and Neuhaus chocolatier. It also houses the Taverne du Passage restaurant.[10]
- The Princes' Gallery (French: Galerie des Princes, Dutch: Prinsengalerij) is located perpendicularly between the King's Gallery and the Rue des Dominicains/Predikherenstraat.[3] It is home to Tropismes bookshop.[11]
The south entrance on the Rue du Marché aux Herbes/Grasmarkt
Overview of the King's Gallery
The small side of the Princes' Gallery
Light show organised for the 170th anniversary of the galleries in 2017
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