Bortier Gallery

The Bortier Gallery (Template:Langx; Template:Langx) is a glazed shopping arcade in central Brussels, Belgium. It was designed by Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer in 1847, in a neo-Renaissance style, and opened in the following year. As well as being one of the first European shopping arcades, it is a fine example of the joint use of cast iron and glass.

The gallery is situated between the Mont des Arts/Kunstberg and the Grand-Place/Grote Markt (Brussels' main square), not far from the more monumental Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries. It is owned by the City of Brussels and is managed by its Land Administration services. This site is served by Brussels-Central railway station.

History

Early history

Originally, the gallery was part of the / complex, a covered market also designed by the architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The façade on the /, in a Flemish Baroque style, antedates the construction of the gallery behind it. This front dates from 1763 and was recovered from the Hôtel des Grandes Messageries, a town house situated on that site.Template:Sfn

The gallery owes its name to an investor named Pierre Bortier, who had acquired land between the / and the /,Template:Sfn made available by the demolition of the former /.Template:Sfn He proposed to the Brussels' authorities to build the /.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This covered market had its main entrance on the Rue Duquesnoy. Starting from the Hôtel des Grandes Messageries, located on the Rue de la Madeleine, the gallery passed along the rounded southern end of the market hall on the level of its first floor, and ended on the Rue Saint-Jean.Template:Sfn

Jean-Baptiste Moens, known as the father of philately, ran a shop in the Bortier Gallery from 1853 onwards.

20th and 21st centuries

The Madeleine market was demolished in 1957 and replaced by a modern event hall, leaving only the original façade in place. The Bortier Gallery was thus detached from the market building. Very degraded, it was closed until 1974–1977, when it was renovated by the architects Paul and Marcel Mignot.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

By the late 20th century, the gallery had become well known to lovers of literature and old books, being almost entirely occupied with stalls and shops selling second-hand books, prints, postcards and magazines.Template:Sfn

In 2024, all but three of the bookshops closed, as the gallery was controversially renovated as a "gastronomic gallery" primarily housing cafés and eateries.

Gallery

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  Detail of the façade
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  Bookshop

See also

• Arcade galleries in Brussels
• History of Brussels
• Culture of Belgium
• Belgium in the long nineteenth century

External links

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• Historic website: Galerie Bortier, le Passage des Libraires
• Bortier Gallery on www.ebru.be
• Bortier Gallery in www.eurobru.be Template:Webarchive