Queen's Gallery, Brussels

Together with the ‘Queens’gallery’ and ‘Prins’gallery an unique architectural place, called ‘Galleries Royales Saint-Hubert’. Initiated by the architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer, the spectacular Galleries Royales project took shape in the 1830's. The works, begun in 1846, were almost completed in time for the official opening on 20 June 1847.

The gallery included shops, auditoriums, cafés, restaurants and apartments. The place to be seen for the fashionable, right away, the Royal Galleries of Saint Hubert drew a wide audience, attracted by its luxury brands, elegant cafés and cultural spaces. These included the Théâtre du Vaudeville, the Cinéma des Galleries and the Taverne du Passage, called the Café des Arts until 1892 and the meeting place for painters and writers of the time. The colony of French refugees, like Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Edgar Quinet and others, would also gather there. The Surrealist painters and artists from the Cobra group were regulars at the venue.

Currently, it is a nice place in the city centre of Brussels to do some shopping and smell the taste of vibrant Brussels.

The Galleries can be easily reached by Metro: get in at Erasmus (7 km from Trionfo) and exit at Centraal.