Hôtel Ravenstein

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Hôtel Ravenstein is a late-15th-century aristocratic mansion in Brussels, Belgium. It is the city’s only remaining Burgundian-era mansion and sits at 3 Rue Ravenstein in the Royal Quarter, near the Centre for Fine Arts and across from the Square – Brussels Convention Centre. The site is close to Brussels-Central railway station and Parc metro station (lines 1 and 5).

The mansion was built for Adolph and Philip of Cleves, lords of Ravenstein, and was part of a larger complex on the former Hôtel de Meldert. The ensemble included a building known as “the Synagogue” and a house with stables on Rue Terarken.

Over the centuries the property changed owners many times. By 1609 it belonged to John George I, Elector of Saxony, and in 1656 it was sold in parts. In 1780 the de Neufforge family made major modifications. In 1893–94 the architect Paul Saintenoy restored it for rental to learned societies. The city bought the site in 1894 for the redevelopment of Rue Ravenstein. The building then housed various scientific and cultural groups.

In 1921 Geert Van Bruaene opened his Le Cabinet Maldoror gallery in the Hôtel Ravenstein, helping Brussels become an important center for art. The gallery later moved, and the building was thoroughly restored again in 1934–37 by François Malfait. It was classified as a historic monument on 27 September 1939.

Architecturally, the house mixes Brabantine late Gothic brick with sandstone and has a distinctive U-shaped layout around a central courtyard. Its exterior features stepped gables, cross-windows, and decorative details, with later 18th-century modifications. Inside, the 1930s restoration preserved and recreated important rooms like the entrance hall with an oak staircase, the Conference Room, the Cordoba Room, and the Portrait Room. A reconstructed private chapel adds a star vault, and the attic houses a large meeting room under an open timber roof.