The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II is the oldest shopping mall in Italy, housed in a four storey building in Milan.
Designed in 1861, and built between 1865 and 1877, the Galleria is named after Vittorio Emanuele II, the first King of the Kingdom of Italy. It’s been nicknamed ‘Milan’s drawing room’.
The roof is a magnificent glass and cast iron octagon, covering the street below, and it was the prototype for today’s modern glazed enclosed shopping malls, many of which are also called galleria. Today, the shops sell luxury goods, haute couture, jewelry, books and paintings, and it is home to many bars, cafes and restaurants too.
In 2012 after 20 years of trading, McDonald’s was not allowed to renew its tenancy there, so it sued the City of Milan for $24 million in damages, which represented $6 million a year in sales. A Prada store has replaced it.
Contribution to Retail History
First introduced in Paris at the end of the 18th century, the galleria was the immediate forerunner of the department store. Galleria Emanuele brought this format to its apogee. Important as an early example of the use of retail/hospitality as a method of town planning, the Galleria Emanuele was designed to fill an urban space that would link the high art of the Opera House with the high church of the Duomo.