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Sunday, December 22, 2013
Continued ....
Second Day of my Holy Land Trip, Palestine, Jerusalem (F)
Your comments valuable:
My Holy Land Trip
Station 1: Jesus is condemned to death
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FIRST STATION – Jesus is condemned to death
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Station
1 is located on the north-west corner of the temple mount, across the street
from the Franciscan convent of the Flagellation (station 2). This is the
present position of the Al-Omariya school, as seen in the photo below with the
round sign "I" (which is "1" in Roman numerals).
The site was in the Roman times the place of
the seat of Pontius Pilate, located in the Antonia fortress, and the place of
the hall of judgment. John 18-28: "Then led them Jesus from Caiaphas unto
the hall of judgment". Jesus is condemned to death by Pontius Pilate, as
per John 19:16: " Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be
crucified".
Map of The Via Dolorosa
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Via
Dolorosa is located within the old city of Jerusalem. It starts from the place
where he was tried and convicted - near the Lions' gate on the eastern side
(Muslim quarter). It ends in the crucifixion place, Golgotha, where the Church
of the Holy Sepulcher is located in the west side of the old city (Christian
quarter).
The path is shown (in a bright blue line) on
the model of the Byzantine city (displayed at St Peter Gallicantu church), with
indication of the 14 stations. You can point and click on a purple point to navigate
to the selected station.
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| Station 1 |
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| Flagellation Church |
Station 2: Jesus receives His Cross
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| SECOND STATION - Jesus receives His Cross |
The second station is located near the compound of the Franciscan monastery, across the street from the first station. It is seen below, behind the sign with the station number "II". At this station Jesus receives the cross (John 19:17, 19): "And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha...And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross...".
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| Station 2 |
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| Station 2, Another view |
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| Station 2, inside the Flagellation Church |
The photo below shows a view of the first section of the Via Dolorosa road, looking towards Mount of Olives (seen in the far background). Mount of Olives is accessible through the Lions' (St. Stephen's) gate which is located at the edge of this road. Along the left side are the walls of the Franciscan monastery.
Station 3: Jesus falls the first time under His Cross
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| THIRD STATION - Jesus falls the first time under His Cross |
This station is located on the corner
of Via Dolorosa and El Wad (Hagai) street, which is seen in the photo below. At
this point Via Dolorosa makes a sharp turn to the south-east, following the
direction of the western side of the temple mount, until it turns again
westwards at the fifth station
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| Polish Armenian Catholic Chapel, |
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| The painting on the wall shows Jesus falling under the weight of the cross, with the angels watching and praying. |
Station 4: Jesus meets Mary His Mother
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| FOURTH STATION - Jesus meets Mary His Mother |
This 4th station is located very close to station 3, further south on El-Wad (Hagai) street. Here, Jesus met his mother Mary according to the tradition. An Armenian church ("Armenian Church of Our Lady of the Spasm") is located behind the walls of this site. As per John 19, 26: "When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!".
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| Station 4 |
It is
interesting to see a short section of the Roman/Byzantine street between the
3rd and 4th stations. This pavement was probably part of the
"secondary" Cardo, which once connected the Damascus (Shchem) gate to
the Dung (Ha-Ashpot) gate in the south, as seen in the Madaba map.
Although the stones were paved several hundred
years later, they followed the same route of the Roman Street that existed
during the times of Jesus. The may have been part of the Roman street, so
conceivably Jesus could have walked on the stones
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| Ancient tile pavement on the street between the 3rd and 4th stations |
Station 5: Simon helps Jesus to carry His Cross
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| FIFTH STATION - Simon helps Jesus to carry His Cross |
The 5th station is located at the corner of Via Dolorosa road and El-Wad ("The Gai") road. At this corner the road turns sharply to the right, and then starts climbing up the hill with a series of stairs.
A small Franciscan church is located at this station, dedicated to Simon the Cyrenian, who assisted Jesus with the cross. This is based on Luke 23, 26: "And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus".
This
is the First Franciscan chapel in the site of
Jerusalem,
established in 1229
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| Station 5 |
An old square stone, located on the right side of the structure, has a cavity which is said to be the imprint of Jesus hand.
