Via Dolorosa

After feverishly cleaning the apartment, which needs to be cleaned again, my roommate and I went out to explore the Via Dolorosa, which extends through the heart of the Old City.  Starting at the Lions Gate leading in the Christian Quarter, the first station is currently a school, but was the site of a Roman Fort and is held to be the site where Pontius Pilate condemned Jesus. Across the road are two churches, the Church of the Condemnation, where Christ was condemned to be crucified and where Pilate wiped his hands of the decision. Opposite the courtyard is the Church of the Flagellation, where Christ was given the crown of thorns and mocked by the Roman soldiers. At the third station, we got stuck behind a group from Nigeria that had to touch EVERYTHING, which made them take about four times as long. Luckily we lost them by making a wrong turn and going to the fourth station before going to the third. The fourth station is a huge imposing church called the Church of Our Lady of the Spasm, which is a very weird name if you ask me. It’s the spot where Mary stood to watch Jesus go by. Down in the crypt there is a fantastic fifth century mosaic in which you are supposed to be able to see the outline of a pair of sandals, said to be Mary’s footprints. How Mary’s footprints appeared in a mosaic that was created five hundred years after her death seems rather bizarre to me, but I guess it’s an interesting commentary on the power of faith. I didn’t actually see the footprints, so I can’t attest if they look like Mary’s footprints or not. The third station is attached to the fourth and is the just a marker commemorating the first place Jesus fell on his journey to Golgotha . The fifth station is  a site where Jesus leaned against the wall  and there is a handprint in the side of the  chapel. Once again, I don’t know how much of this I believe, and I do find it fascinating in the differences in people’s faith. This is also the site where Simon the Cyrenian was forced to carry Jesus’ cross and there is a small chapel of commemoration. The sixth station is where Saint Veronica wiped the face of Christ with her handkerchief. A small pillar marks the spot that says “6 St./pia Veronica faciem Chisti linteo deterci” (trans: 6^th station, pious Veronica wiped the face of Christ with a cloth). The cloth was held to have healed Emperor Tiberius of an illness and was stored in the Vatican until the 16^th century when it was lost. The seventh station is the second spot where Jesus fell. This spot is also called the Gate of Judgment, since it is here that would have been the exit of the city and the names of the condemned were affixed to it.  We missed the eighth station, but it’s a stone with a hole in the middle inscribed with an “IC XC” for Jesus Christ and “NIKA” meaning victor. It was here that Christ consoled the women of Jerusalem. The ninth station is where Jesus fell a third time and is marked by a Roman pillar on the way to the Ethiopian compound. The Ethiopian Compound  is on top of a roof, and has been the center for intense debate. The Ethiopian Church managed to take the rooftop away from the Coptic Church and after the paperwork that specified their rights were burned, the Ottomans gave the roof back to the Copts. Then while the Copts were praying, the Ethiopian Monks came in, changed the locks and reoccupied the village. The site is still fought over, even though it’s been assed that the roof is in danger of collapse.  Another bizarre circumstance of this very sacred area is that there monks, men of God, are willing to have fistfights over one little spot. The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is even more controversial. It’s nowhere near as impressive as the Dome of the Rock, though I think it’s more impressive than the Wailing Wall, not that I should say that here.  The Church is the site of Christ’s crucifixion, burial and resurrection.  It contains the final five Stations of the Cross: the tenth, where Jesus stripped off his clothes; the eleventh, where he was nailed to the cross, the twelfth; where he died on the cross; the thirteenth, where his body was removed from the cross; and the fourteenth, his tomb. Quick Background: The Church of the Holy Sepulcher is such a Holy site that it is shared by the Roman Catholics, the Greek Orthodox, the Armenian Orthodox, the Jacobites, the Ethiopians and the Copts. Each individual division’s rights to the Church are defined by the Status Quo on Holy Sites, fixed by decree of the Ottoman sultan in 1757.  Under the Status Quo, each division is given rights to specific parts of the church and can hold services at certain times of the day or night. There have been frequent brawls between the factions, with the most recent being in 2008, but I’ve already rambled, so theres no point in going into it now. Also, since the factions cannot trust one another, the key to the Church is in the hands of a local Muslim family who has opened and closed the church for centuries.  The entire interior is dark, smoky and loud. At the very entrance to the Church is the Stone of Unction, which according to the Greek Orthodox tradition, is the stone where Christ was taken from the cross and the Roman Catholics believe he was anointed before burial. Following a very steep set of stairs that takes you through a very low archway to Golgotha. I didn’t actually get close to the last few stations, the crowd was huge and I had no desire to wait in line to sightsee. The whole altar is very ornate. More than I’ve ever seen in my life. You can’t even really see the rock underneath, except for the small peeks. Otherwise there’s so the thirteen station,  and next to it is the  Stabat Mater, a statue of Mary with a sword piercing her heart, marking where the Roman Catholics believe that Mary stood at the foot of the cross. Descending the stairs from Golgotha, we made our way to the Rotunda, where the Tomb of Christ is. Once again, there was a huge line to go see it, so I didn’t want to go to close. It was cool to see, but and I didn’t know how close I was allowed to so. Also, most Protestants believe that Christ was actually buried in the Garden Tomb, which is north of the Old City. I do really want to go there, and I do find it to be a little odd that the tomb is so close to Golgotha that it could be in the same Church, but who knows. I guess it’s just another expression of faith.