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.

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.