Venetian Galleries

The Venetian Galleries (Venetiaanse Gaanderijen) are the elegant arcaded pavilions on the corner of the promenade and the Parijsstraat, a few minutes east of the Royal Galleries. They were built in 1900–01 to a design by the architect Henri Maquet as part of Leopold II’s royal seafront, next to the Royal Chalet where the king stayed in summer. The building is an L-shaped neoclassical covered promenade with tall arched windows, a balustrade along the roof and a belvedere with a copper dome on the corner tower.

The galleries stand on the site of the oyster park of the old Pavillon du Rhin hotel, and local history has it that a tunnel once led under the Parijsstraat to the villas where Baroness Vaughan, Leopold II’s mistress, lived. Behind the galleries is the small public Koningspark, laid out in 1903, and on the seafront side stands a bronze statue of King Baudouin by Josiane Vanhoutte. The building has been a protected monument since 2002.

You can admire the architecture from the promenade at any time. Inside, the galleries are now the temporary home of Mu.ZEE, Ostend’s art museum, while its main building on the Romestraat is renovated until 2028, so for now this is also the place to see Belgian art from Ensor to the present day.