The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, also known as "Il Salotto di Milano", is a commercial gallery built in the second half of the 19th century.The main arm, nozzle that connects Piazza Duomo to Piazza della Scala, measures 196.6, the other, shorter, measures 105.1 meters. At the intersection is the space surmounted by the dome, called "octagon" for its shape obtained by cutting the four corners at the intersection of the two galleries.
The tops of the four walls derived from the cut are each adorned with a painted lunette, 15 metres wide and with a maximum height of 7 metres, representing a different continent. Europe is depicted in ancient clothing and guarded by a winged man holding a laurel: America is represented as a female figure surrounded by African Americans and a native; Asia is represented seated on a throne and honored with gifts from figures with Asian features; Africa is represented in Egyptian clothing and flanked by a lion and a Moor.
But beyond history and its architecture here is the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II: a place of transit for busy managers or a stopover for enchanted and curious tourists, it shows the varied face of the city with its many facets.
Today it is considered with Via Montenapoleone and Via della Spiga one of the luxury shopping venues of Milan; here there are many shops of prestigious brands and brands, famous cafes and restaurants as well as prestigious and historic bookshops.
The feeling, doing the classic "four steps in the Gallery", is to enter the heart of the city. Starting from its main entrance, in fact, the magnificent arch welcomes us inside a show all Meneghino: a thousand ways to stop in this beautiful transit between the Duomo and the Teatro alla Scala, just the original idea of the designers who wanted a porticoed street that would act as a showcase and a walk to have an aperitif or dinner after the Opera.
Tradition says that rotating three times on themselves with the heel of the right foot planted in correspondence to the genitals of the bull portrayed in mosaic on the floor of the octagon of the gallery brings good luck.
The gesture was originally performed as a mockery of the city of Turin, in whose coat of arms the bull is depicted, and then spread simply as a superstition ritual.
