Jerusalem, November 2009

Andrew and I on the Mount of Olives 

   

The Dome of the Rock, a Muslim shrine at the site of the 1st and 2nd Jewish Temple.

Chapel of the Flagellation, near the Antonia Fortress in Old Jerusalem, commemorating the site where Jesus was scourged and mocked by Pilate's Roman soldiers.  The design over the door is to remind one of the thorns in the crown placed on Jesus' head.

The Via Dolorosa, (the Way of Sorrows) a winding pathway through the Old City; since Byzantine times considered the traditional way of Jesus to the cross.  There are 14 stations marking different events along the route. The chapel above is station #2

Today it is a crowded, noisy market area - and probably was as Jesus went by, bearing the cross.

Station 3 marks the first of three times tradition says Christ fell under the weight of the cross.

The 5th Station, where Simon of Cyrene was pressed by soldiers into service to carry the cross for the stumbling Jesus.  

The 8th Station (not pictured) is the site of the lamenting women of Jerusalem in the Gospel of Luke.