DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10357#0052
JERUSALEM.
29
in the above-mentioned Turkish Barracks (see page 30). The second station is in the street
below, where, at the foot of the Scala Santa, which led to the Judgment Hall, the cross was
laid upon Christ. A few paces westward the street is spanned by the Ecce Homo Arch
(see page 24), which marks the spot where Pilate brought Jesus forth "wearing the crown
of thorns and the purple robe," and presented Him to the multitude with the memorable
words, "Behold the man!" (John xix. 5). The arch has all the appearance of a Roman
triumphal arch of the time of Hadrian. It consists of a large central arch, with a smaller
one on the north side which has been included in and forms the eastern termination of the
Church of the Convent of the Sisters of Zion. Following the street downwards to the
valley the third station is reached, a broken column near the Austrian Hospice which indicates
the place where Christ fell under the cross. A little lower down is the house of Lazarus
(see page 26), and the fourth station, where Christ met the Virgin Mary ; and then follow
the house of Dives, with its handsome doorway, and the fifth station, where, our Lord having
fallen for the second time, Simon of Cyrene took up the cross. A short ascent leads to
the house of St. Veronica, the sixth station (see page 25). The road now ascends to the
street which connects the Bazaars with the Damascus Gate, and here at the crossing is
shown the seventh station, the so-called " Porta Judiciaria." The eighth station, where
Christ addressed the women who accompanied him with the words, " Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for me," is at the Monastery of St. Caralombos ; the ninth station, where He fell
for the third time, is in front of the Coptic Convent ; the tenth, within the church, marks the
spot where He was undressed ; the eleventh where He was nailed to the cross; the twelfth
where the cross was raised ; the thirteenth where He was taken down from the cross ; and the
fourteenth the Sepulchre itself. It is, perhaps, needless to add that the buildings along the
Via Dolorosa are modern, and that the " stations " themselves have been moved from place
to place in the city whenever necessity or convenience required their removal.
Not far from the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the old gateway which
formerly led into the pile of buildings belonging to the Knights of St. John, and which now,
surmounted by the Prussian eagle, gives access to the ground presented by the Sultan to
Prussia on the occasion of the visit of the Crown Prince to Jerusalem in 1869. The arch
is semicircular, and when perfect must have been a beautiful specimen of twelfth-century work.
Round the arch is a series of figures in stone, now much mutilated, but once representing the
months. February is indicated by a man pruning, July by a reaper, August by a thresher,
September by a grape-gatherer, &c. In the centre are the sun and moon—" Sol " a half figure
holding a disc on high, " Luna " a female with a crescent. Above the arch is a cornice enriched
with figures of lions and other animals, carved with great spirit, apparently by the same man
who cut those in the cornice above the Chapel of the Egyptian Mary, near the door of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the close vicinity of the arch is the minaret of the Mosque
of Omar (see page 35), erected 1417 a.d., and supposed to mark the place where Omar
prayed when he entered Jerusalem after its capitulation. The mosque occupies the site of the
29
in the above-mentioned Turkish Barracks (see page 30). The second station is in the street
below, where, at the foot of the Scala Santa, which led to the Judgment Hall, the cross was
laid upon Christ. A few paces westward the street is spanned by the Ecce Homo Arch
(see page 24), which marks the spot where Pilate brought Jesus forth "wearing the crown
of thorns and the purple robe," and presented Him to the multitude with the memorable
words, "Behold the man!" (John xix. 5). The arch has all the appearance of a Roman
triumphal arch of the time of Hadrian. It consists of a large central arch, with a smaller
one on the north side which has been included in and forms the eastern termination of the
Church of the Convent of the Sisters of Zion. Following the street downwards to the
valley the third station is reached, a broken column near the Austrian Hospice which indicates
the place where Christ fell under the cross. A little lower down is the house of Lazarus
(see page 26), and the fourth station, where Christ met the Virgin Mary ; and then follow
the house of Dives, with its handsome doorway, and the fifth station, where, our Lord having
fallen for the second time, Simon of Cyrene took up the cross. A short ascent leads to
the house of St. Veronica, the sixth station (see page 25). The road now ascends to the
street which connects the Bazaars with the Damascus Gate, and here at the crossing is
shown the seventh station, the so-called " Porta Judiciaria." The eighth station, where
Christ addressed the women who accompanied him with the words, " Daughters of Jerusalem,
weep not for me," is at the Monastery of St. Caralombos ; the ninth station, where He fell
for the third time, is in front of the Coptic Convent ; the tenth, within the church, marks the
spot where He was undressed ; the eleventh where He was nailed to the cross; the twelfth
where the cross was raised ; the thirteenth where He was taken down from the cross ; and the
fourteenth the Sepulchre itself. It is, perhaps, needless to add that the buildings along the
Via Dolorosa are modern, and that the " stations " themselves have been moved from place
to place in the city whenever necessity or convenience required their removal.
Not far from the entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is the old gateway which
formerly led into the pile of buildings belonging to the Knights of St. John, and which now,
surmounted by the Prussian eagle, gives access to the ground presented by the Sultan to
Prussia on the occasion of the visit of the Crown Prince to Jerusalem in 1869. The arch
is semicircular, and when perfect must have been a beautiful specimen of twelfth-century work.
Round the arch is a series of figures in stone, now much mutilated, but once representing the
months. February is indicated by a man pruning, July by a reaper, August by a thresher,
September by a grape-gatherer, &c. In the centre are the sun and moon—" Sol " a half figure
holding a disc on high, " Luna " a female with a crescent. Above the arch is a cornice enriched
with figures of lions and other animals, carved with great spirit, apparently by the same man
who cut those in the cornice above the Chapel of the Egyptian Mary, near the door of the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre. In the close vicinity of the arch is the minaret of the Mosque
of Omar (see page 35), erected 1417 a.d., and supposed to mark the place where Omar
prayed when he entered Jerusalem after its capitulation. The mosque occupies the site of the