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One of the best ports I was able to visit while working on a cruise ship was Sydney, Australia. We docked very close to the world famous opera house. I got extremely lucky on the day I signed up for a tour. No one else signed up at the time slot I chose and I got a personal tour with just the tour guide and me. The opera house has a fascinating history. I never knew that the sails all were sections of a sphere.
The land where the Sydney Opera House stands is called Bennelong Point. Bennelong Point was once home to Fort Macquarie (the fort was built in 1817 and knocked down in 1901). On 10 August 1902, the Fort Macquarie Tram Depot was opened at Bennelong Point. The depot was knocked down in 1958. The Sydney Opera House was built on the same spot and the work began in 1959.
It was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon. He won a design competition in 1957. Utzon left the project in February 1966 because the government was not paying his invoices. The building finally opened on October 20, in 1973. The project was completed ten years later and cost more than fourteen times the original budget. In 2001, Utzon was invited back to restore the building and change it back towards his original designs.
The original cost estimate to build Sydney Opera House was $7 million. The final cost was $102 million and it was largely paid for by a State Lottery.
233 designs were submitted for the Opera House international design competition held in 1956. Jørn Utzon from Denmark was announced the winner, receiving ₤5000 for his design.
Construction was expected to take four years. It took 14 years. Work commenced in 1959 and involved 10,000 construction workers.
Paul Robeson was the first person to perform at Sydney Opera House. In 1960, he climbed the scaffolding and sang Ol' Man River to the construction workers as they ate lunch.
Sydney Opera House was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2007
There are more than 1 million roof tiles covering approximately 1.62 hectares sitting over the structure. They were made in Sweden.
Seven A380s could sit wing-to-wing on the site.
Sydney Opera House was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 20th October, 1973. She has since visited four times, most recently in 2006.
When the Sydney Symphony Orchestra is on stage in the Concert Hall, the temperature must be 22.5 degrees to ensure the instruments stay in tune. Temperature and humidity are critical to musical instruments.
Arnold Schwarzenegger (former actor and Governor of California) won his final Mr Olympia body building title in 1980 in the Concert Hall.
A net was installed above the orchestra pit in the Joan Sutherland Theatre during the 1980s following an incident during the opera Boris Godunov. The opera featured live chickens and one bird walked off the stage and landed on top of a cellist.
More than 10.9 million people visit the Opera House every year.
Sydney Opera House is cooled using seawater taken directly from the harbour. The system circulates cold water from the harbour through 35 kilometres of pipes to power both the heating and air conditioning in the building.
Each year, Lunar New Year is celebrated at the Opera House with sails lit in red, Lunar Lanterns and Mandarin tours. In 2019, some 25,000 people celebrated with us.
