The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries (, ) is an ensemble of three glazed shopping arcades in central Brussels, Belgium. It consists of the or ("King's Gallery"), the or ("Queen's Gallery") and the or ("Princes' Gallery"). The galleries were designed and built by the architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar between 1846 and 1847, and precede other famous 19th-century European shopping arcades, such as the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan and the Passage in Saint Petersburg. Like them, they have twin regular facades with distant origins in Vasari's long narrow street-like courtyard of the Uffizi in Florence, with glazed arched shopfronts separated by pilasters and two upper floors, all in an Italianate Cinquecento style, under an arched glass-paned roof with a delicate cast-iron framework. The complex was designated a historic monument in 1986. The galleries are located in the block between the / and the / to the south and east, the / and the / to the north, and the / and the / to the west. This site is served by Brussels Central Station. History The Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries were designed by the young architect Jean-Pierre Cluysenaar, who determined to sweep away a warren of ill-lit alleyways between the / and the / and replace a sordid space where the bourgeoisie scarcely ventured into with a covered shopping arcade more than in length. His idea, conceived in 1836, was finally authorised in February 1845. The partnership , in which the banker Jean-André Demot took an interest, was established by the summer of that year, but nine years were required to disentangle all the property rights, assembled by rights of eminent domain, during a process that caused one property owner to die of a stroke, and a barber, it was said, to slit his throat as the adjacent house came down. Construction started on 6 May 1846, lasting for thirteen months, and the passage was inaugurated on 20 June 1847 by King Leopold I and his two sons. In 1845, the Société named the three sections of the new passage the /, the / and the /. The ensemble, called the ("Saint-Hubert Passage") has borne its present name since 1965. Under its motto ("Everything for everybody"), displayed in the fronton of its palace-like facade, the Saint-Hubert Galleries attracted people of fashion. Brilliantly lit, they offered the luxury of outdoor cafés in Brussels' inclement climate, in an ambiance of luxury retailers that brought to