The glass roof
213 metres of arched gallery in marble and gold.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fred Romero from Paris, France — CC BY 2.0 · Gargarapalvin — CC BY-SA 4.0
The gallery is the place: Neuhaus (the original inventor, 1857), Pierre Marcolini (the luxury artisan), Corné Port-Royal and Mary — all genuine shops, not tourist ones. Taste before buying, and fresh pralines are sold by weight. Avoid the cheap "Belgian chocolate" shops in the tourist lanes.
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The Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert are among Europe's first covered shopping arcades (1847) and its loveliest: an elegant 213-metre gallery under an arched glass roof with neoclassical façades of marble and gold, divided into the King's, Queen's and Princes' galleries — it preceded and inspired the famous arcades of Milan and Paris. It is the temple of Belgian chocolate: here Jean Neuhaus opened his shop in 1857, and in this gallery his grandson invented the "praline" (filled chocolate) in 1912 — the original Neuhaus shop is still in place, beside Pierre Marcolini, Corné Port-Royal and others. Historic cafés, a theatre, a bookshop and a cinema keep the nineteenth-century spirit. Steps from the Grand-Place, free, and an ideal refuge in rain or winter — a pure Brussels stroll of taste.
213 metres of arched gallery in marble and gold.
Where the praline was invented in 1912 — still in place.
Nineteenth-century spirit in cafés, a theatre and a cinema.
Galerie du Roi 5, 1000 Brussels