Sydney Opera House - Sails on Bennelong Point

Photo: BenAveling, CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)

A stop on Sydney Harbour: Rocks to Opera House, a free self-guided tour.

You're at the foot of the Opera House steps on Bennelong Point. In 1790 Governor Phillip built a hut here for Bennelong, a Wangal man who had been captured on Phillip's orders in 1789, later escaped, and then returned on his own terms to act as a go-between for his people and the British. The point still bears his name.

The building above you began with a competition. In 1957 the Danish architect Jorn Utzon won out of 233 entries; a well-known story says jury member Eero Saarinen rescued his design from the reject pile. Construction started in 1959, costs soared, and after bitter disputes with the government Utzon left in 1966. He never returned to Australia to see it finished. Australian architects completed the interiors, and Queen Elizabeth II opened the building on October 20, 1973.

Get close to the shells: their surfaces are covered with over a million glossy white and matte cream tiles from Sweden. The building became a World Heritage Site in 2007.

Getting here: Walk back along the waterfront past the MCA and around Circular Quay, then follow the broad promenade to the Opera House steps; about 10 minutes.

Did you know?: The roof shells carry exactly 1,056,006 tiles, made by the Swedish firm Hoganas.

Photo op: Walk up the steps and around to the northern tip of the point for a close-up of the sails with the Harbour Bridge behind.

More on Wikipedia: Sydney Opera House · Bennelong · Jorn Utzon · Bennelong Point

Sydney Opera House - Sails on Bennelong Point

Stops on this tour