A feel of Judea

To celebrate the Winter vocations, the wineries of the Judean Hill region are teaming up for month-long festivities in which they will offer an array of tourist attractions throughout the area.

Stretching from the coastal plain to the foothills of the Jerusalem Mountains, the Judea region is home to a cluster of 25 boutique wineries, some of them the nation’s best. This is the most organized wine region in the country, with its own wine route and where the establishments are marketed as a group. However, most of the wineries are medium-to-small operations without established visitor centers, so the festival events are a great opportunity for both wine connoisseurs and would-be wine lovers to explore some of the area’s most spectacular gems.

The charming setting and unique wine-growing conditions have earned the Judea region a reputation as one of the country’s fine wine-producing regions.

The Judean wine route takes you on an adventure along hillsides and deep valleys with picturesque landscapes and panoramic vistas. This is one of the most scenic routes in the country where visitors can not only travel through forests and vineyards, but sip award-winning wines and enjoy country dining experiences.

Area hotels, including Neveh Ilan, Yad Hashmona, Tzova, Shoresh, Ma’aleh Hahamisha and Neveh Shalom, are offering attractive deals for festival guests.

Commerzbank Tower

Commerzbank Tower is a skyscraper located in the city centre of Frankfurt, Germany. After it was completed in 1997 it ranked as the tallest building in Europe until 2005 when it was surpassed by the Triumph Palace in Moscow. The tower is only two metres taller than the MesseTurm which is also located in Frankfurt. The MesseTurm was the tallest building in Europe before the construction of the Commerzbank Tower. The details of Commerzbank Tower is explained in world tour guides below.

With a height of 259 metres or 850 ft, 56 stories, it provides 121,000 m² or 1.3 million sq.ft. of office space for the Commerzbank headquarters, including winter gardens and natural lighting and air circulation. The signal light on top of the tower gives the tower a total height of 300.1 metres or 985 ft.

In its immediate neighbourhood are other high rise buildings including the Eurotower which is the home of European Central Bank, the Maintower, the Silver Tower, the Japan Center and the Gallileo skyscraper. The area is commonly known as Bankenviertel. It is also called as banking district or financial district.

It was designed by Foster & Partners, with Arup and Krebs & Kiefer structural engineering, J. Roger Preston with P&A Petterson Ahrens mechanical engineering, Schad & Holzel electrical engineering. Construction of the building began in 1994 and took three years to complete. The building is illuminated at night by a yellow light scheme which was designed by Thomas Ende who was allowed to display this sequence as a result of a competition.

When the building was planned in the early 1990s Frankfurt's Green Party, who governed the city together with the Social Democratic Party, encouraged the Commerzbank to design a 'green' skyscraper. The result was the world's first so-called ecological skyscraper: besides the use of 'sky-gardens' environmental- friendly technologies were employed to reduce energy required for heating and cooling.

The Commerzbank Tower is shaped as a 60 metres or 197 ft wide rounded equilateral triangle with a central, triangular atrium. At nine different levels, the atrium opens up to one of the three sides, forming large sky gardens. These open areas allow more natural light in the building, reducing the need for artificial lighting. At the same time it ensures offices in the buildings two other sides have a view of either the city or the garden.

In order to eliminate the need of supporting columns in the sky gardens, the building was constructed in steel instead of the conventional and cheaper concrete. It was the first skyscraper in Germany where steel was used as the main construction material. Commerzbank Tower appears in the Euro Contemporary tileset in SimCity 4 Deluxe or with Rush Hour. In 2007, Wrebbit released a 3D puzzle from the Towers Made To Scale Collection, which includes the Commerzbank Tower and the Messeturm in one box-set.

Sabratha in Libya

Sabratha is a World Heritage Site in the Az Zawiyah District in the northwestern corner of modern Libya, was the westernmost of the three cities of Tripolis. It is also called as Sabratah or Siburata. From 2001 to 2007 it was the capital of the former Sabratha Wa Surman District. It lies on the Mediterranean coast about 65km or 40 miles west of Tripoli. The extant archaeological site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.
Sabratha port was established, perhaps about 500 BC, as a Phoenician trading post that served as a coastal outlet for the products of the African hinterland. Sabratha became part of the short-lived Numidian Kingdom of Massinissa before being Romanized and rebuilt in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. The Emperor Septimus Severus was born nearby in Leptis Magna, and Sabratha reached its monumental peak during the rule of the Severans.

The city was badly damaged by earthquakes during the 4th century, particularly the quake of AD 365. It was rebuilt on a more modest scale by Byzantine governors. Within a hundred years of the Arab conquest of the maghreb, trade had shifted to other ports and Sabratha dwindled to a village.

Besides its magnificent late 3rd century theatre that retains its three storey architectural backdrop, Sabratha has temples dedicated to Liber Pater, Serapis, Isis, and Ian Flom. There is a Christian basilica of the time of Justinian and also remnants of some of the mosaic floors that enriched elite dwellings of Roman North Africa for example, at the Villa Sileen, near Al-Khoms. However, these are most clearly preserved in the coloured patterns of the seaward baths, directly overlooking the shore, and in the black and white floors of the Theatre baths.
There is an adjacent museum containing some treasures from Sabratha, but others can be seen in the national museum in Tripoli. In 1943, during the Second World War, archaeologist Max Mallowan, husband of novelist Agatha Christie, was based at Sabratha as assistant to the Senior Civil Affairs Officer of the Western Province of Tripolitania. His main task was to oversee the allocation of grain rations, but it was, in the words of Christies biographer, a glorious attachment, during which Mallowan lived in an Italian villa with a patio overlooking the sea and dined on fresh tunny fish and olives.

Turning Torso

Turning Torso or HSB Turning Torso is a deconstructivist skyscraper in Malmo, Sweden, located on the Swedish side of the Oresund strait. The details of Turning Torso are explained in world tour guides below. It was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and officially opened on 27 August 2005. The tower reaches a height of 190 metres or 623 feet with 54 stories.

Upon completion, it was the tallest building in Scandinavia, the tallest residential building in the EU and the second tallest residential building in Europe, after the 264-metre or 866 ft high Triumph-Palace in Moscow. A similar, taller skyscraper featuring a 90° twist is the Infinity Tower, currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Prior to the construction of Turning Torso, the 86-metre or 282 ft high Kronprinsen had been the city's tallest building.

The towers design is based on a sculpture by Calatrava called Twisting Torso, which is a white marble piece based on the form of a twisting human being. The organizers of the European housing exhibition Bo01 to be held in Malmo in 2001 asked Calatrava to design a temporary pavilion for the exhibition. At the same time a high-rise building was proposed for the exhibition site and discussions started with Calatrava about the design of that.

Construction started in the summer of 2001. One reason for the building of Turning Torso was to re-establish a recognizable skyline for Malmo since the removal of the Kockums Crane in 2002, which was located less than a kilometre from Turning Torso. The local politicians deemed it important for the inhabitants to have a symbol for Malmo Kockumskranen, which was a large crane that had been used for shipbuilding and somewhat symbolised the cities blue collar roots.

The building is constructed in nine segments of five-story pentagons that twist as it rises the topmost segment is twisted ninety degrees clockwise with respect to the ground floor. Each floor consists of an irregular pentagonal shape rotating around the vertical core, which is supported by an exterior steel framework. The two bottom segments are intended as office space. Segments three to nine house 147 luxury apartments. As Turning Torso is a private residential building there is no access for the public.

The construction of part of this building was featured on Discovery channels Extreme Engineering TV programme which showed how a floor of the building was constructed. McCon also helped along with KD Engineering. On 18 August 2006, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner parachuted onto the Turning Torso, and then jumped off it.

Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park

Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park is UNESCO World Heritage site in the Northern Territory of Australia. The details of Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park are explained in world tour guides below. It is located 1431 kilometres south of Darwin by road and 440 kilometres south-west of Alice Springs along the Stuart and Lasseter Highways. The park covers 1398 square kilometres and includes the features it is named after Uluru Ayers Rock and, 40 kilometres to its west, Kata Tjuta or Mount Olga and is serviced by flights from most Australian capital cities.

Uluru is Australia most recognisable natural icon. The world renowned sandstone inselberg stands 348 metres high with most of its bulk below the ground. The aboriginals believe that the spirit that turned into Uluru was a turtle spirit. Kata Tjuta, meaning many heads, is a group of 36 rock domes that dates back 500 million years. Both Uluru and Kata Tjuta have great cultural significance for the Anangu traditional landowners, who lead walking tours to inform visitors about the local flora and fauna, bush foods and the Aboriginal Dreamtime stories of the area. Anangu are the traditional Aboriginal owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

The Aboriginal Land Rights Act was passed in 1976, meaning that after many years Aboriginal law and land rights were finally recognised in Australian law. Nine years later in 1985 the Traditional Owners were presented with the Freehold Title deeds for the Park, who, in turn, leased the land back to the Australian Government through the Director of National Parks for 99 years. The Director is assisted by Parks Australia. Since hand-back, Anangu and Parks Australia staff have worked together to manage the Park. This process of working together is known as joint management. All management policy and programs aim to maintain Anangu culture and heritage conserve and protect the integrity of the ecological.

In 1987 Uluru National Park was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage natural property. In 1993 the official name of the Park changed to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and the following year it was listed as a World Heritage cultural landscape. This dual World Heritage-listing means that it is one of the few properties in the world that is internationally recognised for both its natural and cultural values and represents years of work by Anangu to assert their role as custodians of their traditional lands. This international recognition is a significant victory for Anangu as it confirms the validity of Tjukurpa as being the primary tool for looking after country.

In 1995 Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park won the Picasso Gold Medal, the highest UNESCO award for outstanding efforts to preserve the landscape and Anangu culture and for setting new International standards for World Heritage management. It was awarded jointly to Parks Australia and the Uluru-Kata Tjuta Board of Management. The National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975 was replaced in July 2000 by the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The declaration of the Park was continued under the new Act.

On 24 May 1977 the Park became the first area declared under the Commonwealth National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975, under the name Uluru National Park, to be managed by the Director of National Parks. The Park was declared over an area of 132,550 hectares and included the subsoil to a depth of 1,000 metres. The declaration was amended on 21 October 1985 to include an additional area of 16 hectares. In 1993, at the request of Anangu and the Park Board of Management, the name of the Park was changed to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

The park receives an average rainfall of 307.7 millimeters per year. Temperature extremes in the park have been recorded at 45°C or 113°F during the summer and -5°C or 23°F during winter nights. UV readings on most extreme summer days reach between 11 and 15. While the Central Australian environment may at first seem stark - a barren landscape supporting spectacular rock formations - closer inspection reveals it as a complex ecosystem, full of life.

Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park flora represents a large portion of plants found in Central Australia. A number of these species are considered rare and restricted in the Park or the immediate region. In Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park 46 species of native mammal are known to have been living in the Uluru region; there are currently 21 according to recent surveys. Anangu acknowledge that a decrease in the number has implications for the condition and health of the landscape. Moves are supported for the reintroduction of locally extinct animals such as mallee fowl, brushtail possum, rufous hare wallaby, or mala, bilby, burrowing bettong and the black footed rock wallaby.


The listing of Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park ensures the Park remains a world class destination for both its cultural and natural heritage. Visitors will continue to have a unique cultural experience at the Park and leave knowing that the Park is managed according to cultural practices that date back tens of thousands of years. Since listing the Park as World Heritage annual visitor numbers have risen to over 400,000 visitors in the year 2000. Increased tourism provides regional and national economic benefits. It also presents an ongoing challenge to balance conservation of cultural values and visitor needs.

The Park is open year round from sunrise to sunset. These times will vary depending on the season. Occasionally parts of the Park may be temporarily closed for cultural reasons. The park entrance fee for Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park is $25 per person 16 years of age and over. This fee is valid for 3 consecutive days and helps to maintain the Park. One quarter goes back to Anangu, the traditional owners, to help them maintain their families and the Mutitjulu community. The Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park Cultural Centre, located inside the Park on the main road to Uluru, provides an introduction to Tjukurpa, Anangu art, Anangu way of life, history, languages, wildlife and joint management of the Park.

Nymphenburg Palace

The Nymphenburg Palace is a Baroque palace in Munich, Bavaria, Germany is a famous tourist aattraction and travel destination site. The palace was the main summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria. It is also called as Nymph's Castle. More details of Nymphenburg Palace is explained in world tour guides below. The palace was commissioned by the prince-electoral couple Ferdinand Maria and Henriette Adelaide of Savoy to the designs of the Italian architect Agostino Barelli in 1664 after the birth of their son Maximilian II Emanuel. The central pavilion was completed in 1675.

Starting in 1701, Max Emanuel, the heir to Bavaria, a souvereign electorate of the Holy Roman Empire, conducted a systematic extension of the palace. Two pavilions were added each in the south and north of Barelli's palace by Enrico Zucalli and Giovanni Antonio Viscardi. Later the south section of the palace was further extended to form the court stables. As a balance the orangerie was added to the north. Finally a grand circle the Schlossrondell with baroque mansions the so called Kavaliershauschen cavaliers lodges was erected under Max Emanuel's son Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII Albert.

Joseph Effner redesigned the facade of the center pavilion in French baroque style with pilasters in 1716. In 1826 Leo von Klenze removed its gables with the electoral coat of arms and created an attic decoration directly under the roof instead. With the Treaty of Nymphenburg concluded in July 1741, Charles Albert allied with France and Spain against Austria. For a long time, the palace was the favourite summer residence of the rulers of Bavaria. King Max I Joseph died there in 1825, and his great-grandson King Ludwig II was born there in 1845.

Today, Nymphenburg is open to the public, but also continues to be a home and chancery for the head of the house of Wittelsbach, currently Franz, Duke of Bavaria. palace, together with its park, is now one of the most famous sights of Munich. The baroque facades comprise an overall with of about 700 metres. The Steinerner Saal or Stone Hall, with ceiling frescoes by Johann Baptist Zimmermann and F. Zimmermann and decorations by François de Cuvillies, is an impressive sight. Acting as a grand hall, it occupies over three floors of the central pavilion of the palace. Some rooms still show their original baroque decoration while others were later redesigned in rococo or neoclassical style. The former small dining room in the south pavilion today houses the Gallery of Beauties of King Ludwig I of Bavaria. This pavilion houses also the birthroom of King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

The 200-hectare or 490-acre park, once an Italian garden in 1671, which was enlarged and rearranged in French style by Dominique Girard, a pupil of Le Notre, was finally redone in the English manner in early 19th century by Friedrich Ludwig von Sckell, on behalf of prince-elector Karl-Theodor also the creator of the English Garden, Munich's green lung, bigger than Central Park and probably one of the worlds biggest inner city parks. He preserved the main elements of the Baroque garden. The park is bisected by a long canal along the principle axis which leads from the palace to the marble cascade in the west. Two lakes are situated on both sides of the canal. The Dorfchen was created under Maximilian III Joseph as Petit hameau. The Salettl a cottage with its little garden nearby close to the former menagerie served as attraction for the children of Maximilian IV Joseph.

The castle as well as the park are important economic factors for the city of Munich. The main building alone has more than 300,000 visitors per year. Nymphenburg Palace lies ahead the Munich Residence and Schleissheim Palace. It is possible to visit the palace by taking the tram number 17 towards Amalienburgstrasse. This line passes through the city centre, including Stachus and the main train station. It takes approximately 20 minutes to get from the city center to the palace by tram. The palace and its park were some of the main filming locations of Alain Resnais 1961 movie Last Year at Marienbad. The Dressage Facility for the equestrian events of the 1972 Summer Olympics was created in the Nymphenburg park.

Jeronimos Monastery

The Jeronimos Monastery or Hieronymites Monastery is located in the Belem district of Lisbon, Portugal. This magnificent monastery can be considered one of the most prominent monuments in Lisbon and is certainly one of the most successful achievements of the Manueline style. It is one of the famous tourist attractions and travel destination in Lisbon. In 1983, it was classified by the UNESCO, with nearby Belem Tower, as a World Heritage Site. More details about Hieronymites Monastery are explained below in World tour guides.

The house for the Hieronymite monks was built on the same site of the Ermida do Restelo a hermitage that was founded by Henry the Navigator at about 1450. The existing structure was started on orders of Manuel I to commemorate Vasco da Gama successful return from India. The Construction of monastery began in 1502 and took 50 years to complete. He used pedra lioz, a local gold coloured limestone for construction. The monastery was designed in the Manueline style by Diogo de Boitaca. He built the church, the monastery, the sacristy, and the refectory. He was succeeded by the Spaniard Joao de Castilho, who took charge of construction in around 1517. Castilho gradually moved from the Manueline style to the Plateresco style, a style with lavish decorations that remind of silver ware. There were several sculptors who made their mark on this building. Nicolau Chanterene added depth with his Renaissance themes. The construction came to a halt when the king Manuel I died in 1521.

The ornate main entrance to the monastery was designed by Joao de Castilho and is considered as one of the most magnificent of his time. This shrine-like portal is large, 32 m high and 12 m wide, extending up for two stories. It features, surrounded by an abundance of gables, pinnacles, many carved figures standing under a baldachin in exquisitely carved niches, around a statue of Henry the Navigator, standing on a pedestal between the two doors.

The western portal is a good example of the transition from the Gothic style to Renaissance. It was built by Nicolau Chanterene in 1517. This was probably his first commission in Portugal. It is now spanned by a vestibule, added in the 19th century that forms a transition between the church and the ambulatory. Diogo Boitac laid the foundations for this three-aisled church with five bays under a single vault, a clearly marked but only slightly projecting transept and a raised choir. The aisles and the nave are of about equal height in the manner of a hall church. Boitac built the walls of the church as far as the cornices and then started with the construction of the adjoining monastery.

Joao de Castilho, a Spanish architect and sculptor, continued the construction in 1517. He completed the retaining walls and the unique single-span ribbed vault, a combination of stellar vaulting and tracery vaults spanning the 19 m-wide church. Each set of ribs in the vaulting is secured by bosses. The bold design the transversal vault of the transept lacks any piers or columns, while Boitac had originally planned three bays in the transept. The unsupported vault of the transept gives the viewer the impression as if it floats in the air.

Work on the vast square cloister of the monastery was begun by Boitac. He built the groin vaults with wide arches and windows with tracery resting on delicate mullions. Joao de Castilho finished the construction by giving the lower storey a classical overlay and building a more recessed upper storey. The construction of such a two-storey cloister was a novelty at the time. Castilho changed the original round columns of Boitac into rectangular ones. He put Plateresque style ornaments on it.

Each wing consists of six bays with tracery vaults. The four inner bays rest on massive buttresses, forming broad arcades. The corner bays are linked by a diagonal arched construction and show the richly decorated corner pillars. The inside walls of the cloister have a wealth of Manueline motives with nautical ornaments, and European, Moorish ans eastern elements. The decorations on the outer walls of the inner courtyard were made in Plateresco style by Castilho. This ornamentation on the walls and the traceried arches of the arcades give the construction a filigree aspect.

The round arches and the horizontal structure are clearly in line with the Renaissance style, while at the same time there is also a relationship with Spanish architecture. The cloister had a religious function as well as a representative function by its decorative ornamentation and the dynastic symbolic motives, such as the armillarium, coat-of-arms, and the cross from the Order of Christ, showing the growing world power of Portugal.

In an extension, added to the monastery during the restoration 1850, is located the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia or National Archaeological Museum. The Museu da Marinha or Maritime Museum is located in the west wing. The church and the monastery, like the nearby Torre de Belem and Padrao dos Descobrimentos symbolises the Portuguese Age of Discovery and is among the main tourist attractions of Lisbon.

Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty officially titled Liberty Enlightening the World dedicated on October 28, 1886, is a monument commemorating the centennial of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, given to the United States by the people of France to represent the friendship between the two countries established during the American Revolution. It represents a woman wearing a stola, a radiant crown and sandals, trampling a broken chain, carrying a torch in her raised right hand and a tabula ansata, where the date of the Declaration of Independence JULY IV MDCCLXXVI is inscribed, in her left arm.

Standing on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, it welcomes visitors, immigrants, and returning Americans traveling by ship. Frederic Auguste Bartholdi sculpted the statue and obtained a U.S. patent for its structure. Maurice Koechlin chief engineer of Gustave Eiffel's engineering company and designer of the Eiffel Tower engineered the internal structure. The pedestal was designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt. Eugene Viollet-le-Duc was responsible for the choice of copper in the statue's construction, and for the adoption of the repousse technique, where a malleable metal is hammered on the reverse side.

The statue is made of a sheathing of pure copper, hung on a framework of steel with the exception of the flame of the torch, which is coated in gold leaf. It stands atop a rectangular stonework pedestal with a foundation in the shape of an irregular eleven-pointed star. The statue is 151 ft or 46 m tall, but with the pedestal and foundation, it is 305 ft or 93 m tall. Worldwide, the Statue of Liberty is one of the most recognizable icons of the United States. For many years it was one of the first glimpses of the United States for millions of immigrants and visitors after ocean voyages from around the world.

The statue is the central part of Statue of Liberty National Monument, administered by the National Park Service. The National Monument also includes Ellis Island. In 1984, the Statue of Liberty was added to the list of World Heritage Sites. In 2007, the Statue of Liberty was one of 20 finalists in a competition to name the New Seven Wonders of the World.The climb to the top is 146 stairs on the double-helix stair case. Inside the copper statue it is approximately 15 to 20ºF warmer than it is outside. The NPS allows 10 people at a time with 3 groups an hour up into the crown. This provides a view of New York Harbor the orientation of the statue faces Brooklyn through 25 windows, the largest approximately 18" or 46 cm high. The view does not, therefore, include the skyline of Manhattan, except through the smallest windows on the left side of the crown.

There are 354 steps inside the statue and its pedestal, with 25 windows in the crown which comprise the jewels beneath the seven rays of the diadem. The keystone which the statue holds in her left hand reads, in Roman numerals, July 4, 1776 the day of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. The Statue of Liberty was engineered to withstand heavy winds. Winds of 50 miles per hour or 80 km/h cause the Statue to sway 3 inches or 76 mm and the torch to sway 5 inches or 130 mm. This allows the Statue to move rather than break in high wind load conditions.

The Statue of Liberty quickly became a popular icon, featured in scores of posters, pictures, motion pictures, and books. A 1911 O. Henry story relates a fanciful conversation between Mrs. Liberty and another statue it figured in 1918 Liberty Loan posters. During the 1940s and 1950s, pulp Science Fiction magazines featured Lady Liberty surrounded by ruins or by the sediments of the ages. It has been in dozens of motion pictures.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame Cathedral which is also known as the Notre Dame de Paris, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Ile de la Cite in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. Notre Dame de Paris is widely considered one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture in the world. It was restored and saved from destruction by Eugene Viollet-le-Dur France famous architect. The name Notre Dame means "Our Lady" in French. Notre Dame de Paris was one of the first Gothic cathedrals, and its construction spanned the Gothic period. Its sculptures and stained glass show the heavy influence of naturalism, unlike that of earlier Romanesque architecture.

Notre Dame de Paris was among the first buildings in the world to use the flying buttress that is arched exterior supports. After the construction began and the thinner walls grew ever higher, stress fractures began to occur as the walls pushed outward. In response, the cathedral's architects built supports around the outside walls, and later additions continued the pattern. The cathedral suffered ruin during the radical phase of the French Revolution in the 1790s, when much of its religious imagery was damaged or destroyed. During the 19th century, an extensive restoration project was completed, returning the cathedral to its previous state.

The Construction began in 1163, during the reign of Louis VII. Bishop de Sully went on to devote most of his life and wealth to the cathedrals construction. Construction of the choir is from 1163 until around 1177 and new High Altar was consecrated in 1182. After Bishop Maurice de Sullys death in 1196, his successor, Eudes de Sully oversaw the completion of the transepts and pressed ahead with the nave, which was nearing completion at the time of his own death in 1208. By this stage, the western facade had also been laid out, though it was not completed until around the mid 1240s.

Many organs were installed in the cathedral over time, the earliest ones were inadequate for the building. The first noteworthy organ was finished in the 18th century by the noted builder Francois-Henri Clicquot. Some of Clicquots original pipework in the pedal division continues to sound from the organ today. The organ was almost completely rebuilt and expanded in the 19th century by Aristide Cavaille Coll.

The position of titular organist at Notre-Dame is considered as one of the most prestigious organist posts in France, along with the post of titular organist of Saint Sulpice in Paris, Cavaille-Colls largest instrument. The organ has 7,800 pipes, with 900 classified as historical. The organ has 109 stops, five 56-key manuals and a 32-key pedalboard. In December 1992, work was completed on the organ that fully computerized the organ under 3 Local Area Networks.

There are five bells at Notre Dame. The great bourdon bell, Emmanuel, is located in the South Tower, weighs just over 13 tons, and is tolled to mark the hours of the day and for various occasions and services. There are four additional bells on wheels in the North Tower, which are swing chimed. These bells are rung for various services and festivals. The bells were once rung manually, but are currently rung by electric motors. The bells also have external hammers for tune playing from a small clavier.