Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, Renaissance Revival architectural ensemble in Duomo district, Milan, Italy.
Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is a historic shopping gallery in the heart of Milan that connects Piazza del Duomo with Piazza della Scala. Two intersecting arcades meet beneath an octagonal glass dome, surrounded by four-story buildings with arched walkways, balconies, and ornate facades in the Renaissance style.
Giuseppe Mengoni designed the gallery starting in 1861, and it opened in 1867 to celebrate newly unified Italy. The iron and glass construction was considered a technical innovation at the time and intended to represent the modern middle class of Milan.
The mosaic bull representing Turin on the central floor is considered a good luck charm, and visitors traditionally spin three times on its axis using their right heel. This tradition has worn a visible hollow into the floor over generations, renewed daily by travelers from around the world.
Access is free daily, and the arcades remain busy throughout the day and into late evening. The smooth marble floors can become slippery when wet, especially in the central area beneath the dome.
The architect Mengoni fell from the roof scaffolding a few days before the official opening and died without seeing his completed work inaugurated. His fall occurred directly beneath the dome he had designed, and the exact circumstances remained unclear.
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