Organ Tour: The oldest playable organ in the world

According to High End Travel Switzerland, Valère was a vast fortress - mentioned for the first time in 1049 - with a church and several houses within the wall rings. The church "Notre-Dame-de-Valère" dates back to the same period.

The church is 395 feet above the town of Valère on a steep hill.

Its "swallows nest organ" from the 14th-century is the oldest playable organ in the world.

According to Paul Hoffman, from the New York Times, "The organ, built in 1390 and most recently restored in 1954, is mounted on a wooden pulpit jutting out like a ship's bow from the rear wall of the Romanesque-Gothic church, once the Cathedral of Sion and one of Switzerland's most haunting edifices."


The organ has 10 ranks and 8 registers:

Pedal
Bass II

Manual
Principal 8
Octaf 4
Copl 4
Quint major 2 2/3
Superoctaf 2
Quint minor 1 1/3
Mixtur II


Intrigued? I think this organ is fascinating!

Here are two clips of the organ being played:

A New York Times article on the organ can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/03/travel/what-s-doing-in-switzerland-s-valais.html