diff --git a/README b/README
index 5e07592374..19766d9046 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ Requirements:
   http://gmplib.org/
 - (optional) gperftools
   https://code.google.com/p/gperftools/
+- cmake
+  http://www.cmake.org
 
 Instructions for installing gcc-4.8 (C++11 compatible) on Ubuntu
 Execute:
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..73ca4cbce7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 2.8.7)
+project (LEAN CXX)
+set (LEAN_VERSION_MAJOR 0)
+set (LEAN_VERSION_MINOR 1)
+set (CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER "g++-4.8")
+set (CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_DEBUG "-DLEAN_DEBUG -DLEAN_TRACE -g")
+set (CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELEASE "-O3")
+set (CMAKE_COLOR_MAKEFILE ON)
+add_definitions(-std=c++11 -Wall)
+
+add_subdirectory(util)
+add_subdirectory(shell)
+
diff --git a/src/shell/CMakeLists.txt b/src/shell/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..43ff828c2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shell/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+configure_file (
+  "${LEAN_SOURCE_DIR}/shell/version.h.in"
+  "${LEAN_BINARY_DIR}/version.h"
+   )
+
+include_directories("${LEAN_BINARY_DIR}")
+
+include_directories (${LEAN_SOURCE_DIR}/util) 
+set (EXTRA_LIBS ${EXTRA_LIBS} util gmp)
+
+add_executable(lean lean.cpp)
+target_link_libraries (lean ${EXTRA_LIBS})
diff --git a/src/shell/lean.cpp b/src/shell/lean.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..80f71f005b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shell/lean.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+#include <iostream>
+#include "version.h"
+#include "name.h"
+#include "mpq.h"
+
+void tst1() {
+    lean::name n1("foo");
+    lean::name n2(n1, 1);
+    std::cout << n2 << "\n";
+}
+
+void tst2() {
+    lean::mpq n1("10000000000000000000000000000000000000000");
+    lean::mpq n2(317, 511);
+    std::cout << n1*n2 << "\n";
+}
+
+int main() {
+    std::cout << "Lean (version " << LEAN_VERSION_MAJOR << "." << LEAN_VERSION_MINOR << ")\n";
+    tst1();
+    tst2();
+    return 0;
+}
diff --git a/src/shell/version.h.in b/src/shell/version.h.in
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7b8ef2dc21
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/shell/version.h.in
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+// the configured options and settings for Tutorial
+#define LEAN_VERSION_MAJOR @LEAN_VERSION_MAJOR@
+#define LEAN_VERSION_MINOR @LEAN_VERSION_MINOR@
diff --git a/src/util/CMakeLists.txt b/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..30055bda06
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/util/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+add_library(util trace.cpp debug.cpp name.cpp exception.cpp gmp_init.cpp mpz.cpp mpq.cpp mpbq.cpp)