Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II has a tip for visitors: find the mosaic bull on the marble floor and spin three times on its testicles. Good luck is said to follow. It's the kind of tradition that tells you exactly what sort of place this is, somewhere magnificent enough to take seriously and irreverent enough not to.

Opened in 1878 and named after Italy's first king, the Galleria was one of the world's earliest covered shopping arcades, a soaring iron-and-glass passageway linking Piazza del Duomo to Piazza della Scala. Look up at the dome and you'll see four lunettes representing the continents. Look down and you'll find the coats of arms of Italy's historic capitals worked into the floor.

VoiceMap's tours use the Galleria as a lens on Milan's identity, tracing the original Prada store in its northeast corner, connecting fashion and fine art, and placing this 19th-century "salotto" at the centre of a city that has always dressed to impress.