The Via Dolorosa (Latin for "Sorrowful Way", often translated "Way of
Suffering") is a processional route in the Old City of Jerusalem, believed to
be the path that Jesus walked on the way to his crucifixion.
The winding route from the former Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre — a distance of about 600 metres (2,000 feet) — is a celebrated
place of Christian pilgrimage.
The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing
various earlier versions. It is today marked by nine Stations of the Cross;
there have been fourteen stations since the late 15th century, with the
remaining five stations being inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
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Street name sign announcing the Via Dolorosa.
The traditional route starts about 200 metres inside (west of) the
Lions' Gate (St. Stephen's Gate) in the Muslim Quarter, at the Umariya
Elementary School, near the location of the former Antonia Fortress.
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Continuing from Lions' Gate Street, the route makes its way westward
through the Old City to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the
Christian Quarter.
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The current enumeration is partly based on a circular devotional walk,
organised by the Franciscans in the 14th century.
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Lions' Gate.
Lions' Gate, also St Stephen's Gate, is one of the seven open Gates of
the Old City of Jerusalem. It leads into the Muslim Quarter of the Old
City.
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The start of the traditional Christian observance of the last walk of
Jesus from prison to crucifixion, the Via Dolorosa, begins at the
Lions' Gate, called St Stephen's Gate by Christians.
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Carved into the wall above the gate are four lions, two on the left
and two on the right. Suleiman the Magnificent had the carvings made
to celebrate the Ottoman defeat of the Mamluks in 1517.
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See more at
Lions' Gate - Wikipedia.
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Entrance gate to the Church of Saint Anne.
The Church of Saint Anne is a French Roman Catholic church and part of
the Domaine national français located in the Muslim Quarter of
the Old City of Jerusalem, near the start of the Via Dolorosa, next to
the Lions' Gate.
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The current Church of St Anne was built sometime between 1131 and
1138, during the reign of Queen Melisende.
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It was erected near the remains of the Byzantine basilica, over the
site of a grotto believed by the Crusaders to be the childhood home of
the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus.
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It is dedicated to Anne and Joachim, the parents of Saint Mary, who
according to tradition lived here.
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See more at
Church of Saint Anne, Jerusalem - Wikipedia.
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Facade of Saint Anne Church.
Built between 1131 and 1138 to replace a previous Byzantine church, and
shortly thereafter enlarged by several meters, the church is an
excellent example of Romanesque architecture.
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In 1862, the French architect Christophe-Edouard Mauss was dispatched
by his government to Jerusalem with the special assignment of
restoring the time-damaged church.
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Unadorned interior.
The three-aisled basilica incorporates cross-vaulted ceilings and
pillars, clear clean lines and a somewhat unadorned interior. The nave
is separated from the lower lateral aisles by arcades of arches.
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The church's acoustics are particularly suited to Gregorian chant,
which makes it a pilgrimage site for soloists and choirs.
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Statue of Saint Anne and the Virgin.
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Pool of Bethesda.
The Pool of Bethesda was a pool in Jerusalem known from the New
Testament story of Jesus miraculously healing a paralysed man, from the
fifth chapter of the Gospel of John, where it is described as being near
the Sheep Gate, surrounded by five covered colonnades or porticoes.
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It is now associated with the site of a pool in the current Muslim
Quarter of the city, near the gate now called the Lions' Gate or St.
Stephen's Gate and the Church of St. Anne, that was excavated in the
late 19th century.
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See more at
Pool of Bethesda - Wikipedia.
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Arches over the Via Dolorosa.
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Stations one and two: Trial by Pilate.
The first and second stations commemorate the events of Jesus' encounter
with Pontius Pilate, the former in memorial of the biblical account of
the trial and Jesus' subsequent scourging, and the latter in memorial of
the Ecce homo speech, attributed by the Gospel of John to Pilate.
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On the site are three early 19th-century Roman Catholic churches,
taking their names from these events; the Church of the Condemnation
and Imposition of the Cross, the Church of the Flagellation, and the
Church of Ecce Homo.
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A large area of Roman paving, beneath these structures, was
traditionally regarded as Gabbatha or 'the pavement' described in the
Bible as the location of Pilate's judgment of Jesus.
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Third station: The first fall.
The first fall is represented by the current third station, located at
the west end of the eastern fraction of the Via Dolorosa, adjacent to
the 19th-century Polish Catholic Chapel.
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This chapel was constructed by the Armenian Catholics, who though
ethnically Armenian, are actually based in Poland.
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The 1947–48 renovations, to the 19th-century chapel, were carried out
with the aid of a large financial grant from the Polish army.
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Entering the Convent of the Sisters of Zion to access the
Lithostrotos.
Gabbatha is the Aramaic name of a place in Jerusalem that is also
referred to by the Greek name of Lithostrotos.
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It is thought by Christians to be the place of the trial of Jesus
before his crucifixion c. 30/33 AD.
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The site of the Church of Ecce Homo is traditionally thought to be its
location.
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See more at
Gabbatha - Wikipedia.
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Descending towards the Lithostrotos.
Lithostrotos (lit. 'stone pavement') occurs in the Bible only once, in
John 19:13.
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It states that Pontius Pilate: «brought Jesus forth, and sat down in
the judgment seat, in the place that is called Lithostrotos, and in
Hebrew Gabbatha.»
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Roman pavement.
Roman pavement once thought to be the site of Jesus' trial with Pontius
Pilate.
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Archaeological studies have confirmed that the Roman pavement at these
two traditional stations was built by Hadrian in the 2nd century AD as
the flooring of the eastern forum of Aelia Capitolina.
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Prior to Hadrian's changes, the area had been a large open-air pool of
water, the Struthion Pool mentioned by Josephus.
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Game etched on a flagstone of the pool.
The 1864 discovery of a game etched on a flagstone of the pool.
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According to the nuns of the Convent of the Sisters of Zion, the game
was played by Roman soldiers and ended in the execution of a 'mock
king'.
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Ecce homo arch.
The central Ecce homo arch, now partially hidden by subsequent
construction.
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Near the Struthion Pool, Hadrian built a triple-arched gateway as an
entrance to the eastern forum of Aelia Capitolina.
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Traditionally, this was thought to be the gate of Herod's Antonia
Fortress, which itself was alleged to be the location of Jesus' trial
and Pontius Pilate's Ecce homo speech as described in John 19:13.
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When later constructions narrowed the Via Dolorosa, the two arches on
either side of the central arch became incorporated into a succession
of more modern buildings.
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See more at
Aelia Capitolina, Ecce homo arch - Wikipedia.
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Chapel of Our Lady of Sion.
The Chapel of Our Lady of Sion is a Catholic chapel located in an old
building of the sisters of the Congregation of Our Lady of Sion in the
western hill of Ein Karem.
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The convent complex was inaugurated in 1860 and is managed by Catholic
nuns since 1861.
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The temple is under the jurisdiction of the Latin Patriarchate of
Jerusalem, which was established in its modern form in 1847 by Pope
Pius IX.
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See more at
Chapel of Our Lady of Sion - Wikipedia.
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Interior of the Chapel of Our Lady of Sion.
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Fourth station: With Mary, Jesus' mother.
The New Testament makes no mention of a meeting between Jesus and his
mother, during the walk to his crucifixion, but popular tradition
introduces one.
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The fourth station, the location of a 19th-century Armenian Catholic
oratory, commemorates the events of this tradition; a lunette, over
the entrance to the chapel, references these events by means of a
bas-relief carved by the Polish artist Zieliensky.
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The oratory, named Our Lady of the Spasm, was built in 1881,
but its crypt preserves some archaeological remains from former
Byzantine buildings on the site, including a mosaic floor.
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See more at
Church of Our Lady of Sorrows, Jerusalem - Wikipedia.
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Fifth station: With Simon of Cyrene.
The fifth station refers to the biblical episode in which Simon of
Cyrene takes Jesus' cross, and carries it for him.
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Although this narrative is included in the three Synoptic Gospels, the
Gospel of John does not mention Simon of Cyrene but instead emphasizes
the portion of the journey during which Jesus carried the cross
himself.
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The current traditional site for the station is located at the east
end of the western fraction of the Via Dolorosa, adjacent to the
Chapel of Simon of Cyrene, a Franciscan construction built in
1895.
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An inscription, in the architrave of one of the Chapel doors,
references the Synoptic events.
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See more at
Chapel of Simon of Cyrene - Wikipedia.
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Sixth station: With Veronica.
A medieval Roman Catholic legend viewed a specific piece of cloth, known
as the Veil of Veronica, as having been supernaturally imprinted with
Jesus' image, by physical contact with Jesus' face.
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By metathesis of the Latin words vera icon (meaning true image)
into Veronica, it came to be said that the Veil of Veronica had gained
its image when a Saint Veronica encountered Jesus, and wiped the sweat
from his face with the cloth; no element of this legend is present in
the Bible, although the similar Image of Edessa is mentioned in The
Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus King of Edessa, a late piece of
New Testament apocrypha.
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The Veil of Veronica relates to a pre-Crucifixion image, and is
distinct from the post-Crucifixion Holy Face image, often related to
the Shroud of Turin.
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The current sixth station of the Via Dolorosa commemorates this
legendary encounter between Jesus and Veronica.
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Seveth station: The second fall.
The second fall is represented by the current seventh station, located
at a major crossroad junction, adjacent to a Franciscan chapel, built in
1875.
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In Hadrian's era, this was the junction of the main cardo (north-south
road), with the decumanus (east-west road) which became the Via
Dolorosa; the remains of a tetrapylon, which marked this Roman
junction, can be seen in the lower level of the Franciscan chapel.
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See also
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