We came across a couple of posts circulating recently on X and Facebook featuring an image that claims to show the underground levels of the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

The image depicts the Opera House with what appears to be eight underground levels, including a boat dock.

A world-class wonder

An iconic Australian architectural landmark, the Sydney Opera House is recognisable by its distinctive sail-shaped roof. It is situated on Bennelong Point, a former island located on Sydney Harbour.

In 2007, the structure was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list, a collection of sites recognised for their outstanding universal value to humanity. These sites are inscribed to ensure their protection, allowing future generations to appreciate and enjoy their cultural and historical significance.

Tracking the origins

We conducted reverse image searches on the images circulating on social media and discovered that they originated from a Facebook page called Synthography Art, a page dedicated to images and visuals created using AI. Many of the posts on this page feature futuristic-looking designs and are accompanied by hashtags such as #AI, indicating that the images are AI-generated.

However, the post about the Sydney Opera House did not include the #AI hashtag, and some Facebook comments expressed confusion about whether the depicted underground levels were real. Additionally, other posts sharing the image did so without providing any context, further contributing to the uncertainty.

Parking in perspective

The claim about the underground levels depicted in the image has been debunked by a spokesperson for the Sydney Opera House, who confirmed to AAP FactCheck that the image is not an accurate representation of reality.

The Opera House is not situated on a circular base surrounded by greenery, as shown in the image, but rather on a narrow peninsula extending into Sydney Harbour. The skyline in the background of the image also does not match Sydney’s actual cityscape.

Additionally, while the Sydney Opera House does have a car park, it is situated nearby under Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens. Known as the Bennelong Point Parking Station, the car park features a unique double helix concrete design, with two intertwined spiral ramps that descend 12 stories underground. However, it does not resemble the structure shown in the circulating image.

Based on these findings, we rate the claim that the images show multiple underground levels of the Sydney Opera House as false. The images were created using AI and circulated online without proper context.