The Galleries Lafayette in Paris has been my first association of a shopping mall with a cathedral. I had visited it some time ago and I remember that it had looked like some kind of sacred place: the beautiful glass dome, the painted windows and all the richness of each detail, even the balconies and its arcades of golden surfaces. Its architecture is absolutely amazing and it is very closely to the interior of a mosque. So I made some research about it and I found that the building was redesigned in 1906 by Ferdinand Chanut according to his predilection for oriental bazaars, inspired in a neo-Byzantine style. "A golden light was used to create a more intimate environment and to set the merchandise aglow" and from the start, the aim was to attract ladies of the high society and also working women who made time during their lunch break.
http://www2.galerieslafayette.com/international/goFolder.do?f=history_en&lang=en&fontLang=null
