Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert
A glazed shopping arcade of 1847, among the oldest in Europe, a short walk from the apartment and dry in any weather.
Passage 125 is an antiques gallery on the Rue Blaes, the street that runs along the Marolles from the Porte de Hal towards the Place du Jeu de Balle. It spreads over about 1,200 m² and four levels, which makes it the largest of the dealers on that stretch.
The building explains a good deal of the atmosphere. It went up in 1859 to a design by the architect H. Beyaert, opened as a linen business, served as a Dutch Protestant temple between 1918 and 1945, and went back to textiles after the war. Painted scripture is still legible on the wall of the main hall. It became an antiques shop in 1995, and the present owner took the building on in 2000.
Stock runs to furniture, paintings, chandeliers, glassware, garden pieces and a great deal of stained glass, ranged in panels along the balconies where the light comes through the roof. Prices cover a wide range, and nobody minds if you only look.
Go on a Sunday morning and pair it with the flea market on the Place du Jeu de Balle, five minutes further up the street, which runs daily from early morning and is at its largest at the weekend.
Closed on Mondays. Open 10:00 to 17:30 the rest of the week, until 18:00 on Saturdays.
We go for the room rather than to buy anything. It reads as half bazaar, half museum, and the pleasure is walking the galleries slowly and guessing where each object came from and which house it was pulled out of.
Public transport
- Metro
- 2 6
- Bus
- 27 48
- Station
- Porte de Hal / Jeu de Balle
How far is it?
| From | Straight line | On foot |
|---|---|---|
| Grand-Place | 990 m | approx. 18 min |
| Place du Grand Sablon | 660 m | approx. 12 min |
| Manneken-Pis | 760 m | approx. 14 min |
| Our apartment | 810 m | approx. 15 min |
| Brussels Central | 1.0 km | approx. 19 min |
Nearby, and worth your time