21/12/2025
The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries (Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert) are a glass-roofed shopping arcade in the centre of Brussels, a few steps from the Grand-Place. Opened on 20 June 1847 by King Leopold I, they are among the oldest covered shopping arcades in Europe.
The galleries were designed by the Dutch-born architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar. The 213-metre passage is divided into three sections, the King’s Gallery, the Queen’s Gallery and the shorter Princes’ Gallery, under an arched glass roof on a delicate cast-iron frame. The palace-like façades carry the motto Omnibus omnia, “everything for everyone”.
From the start the galleries combined shops, cafés and culture. Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Charles Baudelaire and Paul Verlaine frequented their cafés, and on 1 March 1896 the first public film screening in Belgium, with the Lumière cinematograph, took place here. The Royal Theatre of the Galleries opened in 1847 and the Cinéma Galeries in 1939, and the Neuhaus shop in the Queen’s Gallery is known as the birthplace of the praline.
Today the galleries are a protected monument and on Belgium’s tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage. Entry is free, and the covered passage near the Grand-Place is lined with chocolatiers, bookshops, jewellers and cafés, making it a pleasant walk in any weather.
Weather in location: Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries, Brussels, Belgium
- Today 8°…12°
- Wind 4 km/h N
- No precipitation now
Average by month
Monthly averages and dry days (no measurable rain) from ERA5, last 10 years.
