This place happens to be one of the most notable locations in Milan. You should definitely visit here, if you are in Italy. Italy has some of the most beautiful architectural landmarks in the entire continent of Europe, and this place happens to be one of them. This magnificent design of the shopping arcade was actually completed in the year 1861 by the hand of an Italian architect named Guiseppe Mengoni.
- The cornerstone wasn’t laid until four years later, as the structure was completed between the years of 1865 and 1877.
- This actually means that the king of Italy managed to see the completion of the building that was actually named in his honour.
- It has a beautiful shape of a cross with a glass dome in the very centre. The gallery has the shape of a cross and also consists of a two 4 story arcade. The North-South arcade is actually the longest of the two, and they are also covered by the arching glass and the cast-iron roof.
- The two are kids famously meet in a very large octagonal space which is actually covered by a magnificent dorm. This very enormous structure is actually supported by four barrel vaults which are each 14.5 m in West and also 8.5 m in height.
- This particular dome that I’m talking about happens to be the centrepiece of the entire shopping arcade and has a total diameter of 37.5 m and also a height of 17.10 m. It happens to be a very breathtaking structure that literally makes you want to stand and look at it for a couple of minutes.
- I would definitely look at this particular dome for awhile, because I happened to be a huge fan of fantastic architecture, especially in galleries.
- The central octagonal features that I mentioned above actually features the coats of arms of four Italian cities. If you or somebody who has an eye for the amazing dawn in the central octagonal space of the gallery and if you take a look at the floor, you will be seeing the coats of arms of four cities of Italy, namely Turin, Florence, Rome, Milan.
- If you take a closer look at the court of arms of Turin, you will actually see a bull.
- One of the most interesting facts about the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele is that it was far from being the very first glass-vaulted shopping arcade in Europe, but it eventually became the most impressive and interesting one. It wasn’t the first indeed.
- The very first arcade with iron and glass roofs was actually built in London in the year 1819.
Some More Interesting Facts About The Great Galleria Vittorio Emanuele