Bortier Gallery
The Bortier Gallery (, ) is a shopping arcade designed by Jean-Pierre Cluysenaer. It was constructed in 1847 and opened in the following year. It is situated in the centre of the City of Brussels between the Mont des Arts/Kunstberg and the Grand Place/Grote Markt, not far from the more monumental Royal Saint-Hubert Galleries. Proprietor is the City of Brussels and it is managed by its Land Administration services. The gallery is built in a Neo-Renaissance style and is a fine example of the joint use of cast iron and glass. Originally, the mall was  a part of the / complex, a covered market also designed by Cluysenaer. The facade on the rue de la Madeleine in a Flemish baroque style antedates the construction of the mall behind it. This front dates from 1763 and was recuperated from the "Hôtel des Grandes Messageries" a town house situated at that site. The gallery owes its name to an investor named Pierre Bortier, who had acquired land between the Rue Duquesnoy and the Rue Saint-Jean/Sint-Jansstraat, made available by the demolition of the former Hôpital Saint-Jean/Sint-Janshospitaal. He proposed to the city of Brussels  to build the /. This covered market had its main entrance at the Rue Duquesnoy. Starting from the "Hôtel des Grandes Messageries", located at 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 in the Rue Saint-Jean/Sint-Jansstraat. The Madeleine market was demolished in 1957 and replaced by a modern event hall, leaving only the original facade in place. The Bortier Gallery was thus detached from the market building. Very degraded, it was renovated in 1974 and again around 2010. The place  is now well known to lovers of literature and old books, being almost entirely occupied, with the exception of an art gallery, with stalls and second-hand booksellers. Jean-Baptiste Moens, known as the father of philately ran a shop in the Bortier Gallery from 1853 onwards.