The Sydney Opera House: A Man Made Wonder
Take a virtual tour of The Sydney Opera House (Sydney, Australia). Explore the opera house recognized around the world.
The Sydney Opera House is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the most distinctive and famous 20th century buildings, and one of the most famous performing arts venues in the world. Situated on Bennelong Point in Sydney Harbour, with parkland to its south and close to the enormous Sydney Harbour Bridge, the building and its surroundings form an iconic Australian image. To some the spherical-sectioned shells are reminiscent of the flotilla of sailboats commonly cruising there. Tourists - mostly with little or no interest in opera - throng to the building in the thousands every week purely to see it.
As well as many touring theatre, ballet, and musical productions the Opera House is the home of Opera Australia, the Sydney Theatre Company and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. It is administered by the Opera House Trust, under the New South Wales (NSW) Ministry of the Arts.
The Opera House covers 1.8 hectares (4.5 acres) of land and offers 4.5 hectares (11 acres) of usable office space. It is 183 metres (600 feet) tall and about 120 metres (388 feet) wide at its widest point. It is supported on 580 concrete piers sunk up to 25 metres below sea level. Its power supply is equivalent for a town of 25,000 people. The power is distributed by 645 kilometres of electrical cable.
The roofs of the House are constructed of 1,056,000 glazed white granite tiles, imported from Sweden. Despite their self-cleaning nature, they are still subject to periodic maintenance and replacement.
Sydney Opera House Information Courtesy of Wikipedia