From Larry Rivera,
Your Guide to Australia / New Zealand Travel.
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The iconic building on Sydney Harbour, Sydney Opera House, has joined other famous world structures such as India's Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China when it was inscribed a World Heritage Building by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation's World Heritage Committee on June 28, 2007.

Sydney Opera House was described by the UNESCO committee as a "daring and visionary experiment that has had an enduring influence on the emergent architecture of the late 20th-century. The building is a great artistic monument and an icon."

Sydney's iconic symbol

Sydney Opera House joins 16 other Australian World Heritage sites.

Designed by Danish architect Joern Utzon, who won a worldwide competition to design Australia's national opera house, Sydney Opera House was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on October 20, 1973.

It has since become identified so closely with Sydney it has become an undisputed symbol of the harbour city.

4.5 million visitors yearly

An estimated 4.5 million people visit Sydney Opera House every year. Of these, 1.5 million attend a performance at Sydney Opera House.

It seems no visitor to Sydney has failed to ride or walk to Bennelong Point where Sydney Opera House gleams whitely against the Sydney sky, its feet washed by the waters of the harbour.

• Where Is Sydney Opera House?
• How Do You Get to Sydney Opera House?
• Who Designed Sydney Opera House?
• Who Is Joern Utzon?
• When Was Sydney Opera House Opened?
• What Are the Performance Venues at Sydney Opera House?
• What's on at Sydney Opera House?
• Are There Restaurants at Sydney Opera House?