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The Old City and surrounding area
The Via Dolorosa
Current tradition holds that Jesus was condemned at the Praetorium within the Antonia fortress overlooking the Temple Mount from its southwestern corner (John 18:28). Currently, the Muslim Omariyeh College is now on this site, and entrance is not always permitted.
The Via Dolorosa
There are two churches at this site: The Franciscan Church of the Condemnation which commemorates the condemnation of Jesus, and the Chapel of the Flagellation to the right, where Jesus is said to have been flogged (John 19:16). Both are within a courtyard across from the Via Dolorosa and Station 1.
The Via Dolorosa
Walk westward on Via Dolorosa until you reach a crossroad and turn left onto El-Wad Rd. Immediately to your left will be station 3 next to the entrance of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate Hospice. A relief above the entrance to a small Polish chapel marks the station.
The Via Dolorosa
The spot where tradition holds that Jesus meets his mother, marked by a relief above a double door leading to an Armenian Catholic chapel, the Church of Our Lady of the Spasm.
The Via Dolorosa
Several meters further down on your right, El-Wad Rd again intersects with Via Dolorosa. At this intersection’s corner on the Via Dolorosa is a small Franciscan oratory. Roman numeral 5 marks the lintel of the door. Simon, a pilgrim from what is now known as Libya, helps Jesus to carry the cross (Mark 15:21).
The Via Dolorosa
Continue along Via Dolorosa as it gradually climbs upward. On your left, just before the entrance to the St. Veronica Church is station 6 where Veronica wiped Jesus’ face with a cloth.
The Via Dolorosa
Continue walking up Via Dolorosa until you arrive at its intersection with Beit HaBad St., one of the main north-south market streets of the Old City. Here Jesus fell for the second time. The site is marked with a Roman numeral 7 above the entrance to a Franciscan chapel. This was the western-most extension of the city in Jesus’ time, with a gate leading out of the city walls.
The Via Dolorosa
After taking a left turn from station 7 and literally only several steps along Beit HaBad St. you will find a right turn onto (Aqabat) Ma’a lot al-Khanqa St. About 15 meters along on your left will be a Greek Orthodox Convent with a stone marked by a Latin cross, said to be the site where Jesus said to the daughters of Jerusalem “do not weep for me: weep for yourselves and for your children.” (Luke 23:28).
The Via Dolorosa
Retrace your steps back to Beit HaBad St. and turn right. Continue walking until you see a stairway on your right. Head up the stairway and follow the path which turns right which will leave you facing the entrance to a Coptic Church. This is, (at ground level) the traditional site where Jesus fell for the third time.
The Via Dolorosa
When in front of the Roman column of station 9, turn left and enter the rooftop courtyard, walk straight across until you reach an open doorway leading into an Ethiopian Church. Walk through the church, down the stairs and through a second Ethiopian Church. Upon exiting you will be in the courtyard entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. On your right, you will see stairs that lead to a chapel adjacent to the church. This chapel, which is station number 10, is currently closed to visitors.
The Via Dolorosa
Enter the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and take the steep stairs that appear immediately on your right to the landing above. The nave on the right is a Franciscan chapel where Jesus was nailed to the cross (John 19:17).
The Via Dolorosa
The nave to the left is a Greek Orthodox Chapel. The cross is located in the bedrock of Golgotha, where Jesus died (Matthew 27:50).
The Via Dolorosa
Between stations 11 and 12 is a statue of the Madonna that marks the site where Joseph of Arimathea took down the body of Jesus (Luke 23:53).
The Via Dolorosa
Facing the unction stone, with your back to the entrance to the church, turn left to the Rotunda. In the center is the holy tomb monument where Jesus was said to have been buried (Matthew 27:59).The present-day shrine around the tomb was built in 1809-10.
