Via Dolorosa

The ultimate Jerusalem walking tour is, of course, the Via Dolorosa, the route that Jesus is believed to have taken as he carried his cross to Calvary. The walk (around 30 minutes) is easily done on your own, but for a somewhat more unique experience join the Franciscan Fathers on Fridays as they lead a cross-bearing procession along the route. Each stop marks the stations of the cross. To begin the route known today, head deep into the Muslim Quarter, in the direction of Lions Gate.

Before embarking on the walking tour, you might want to visit St Anne's Church and the Ecce Homo Convent of the Sisters of Zion, both located close to the first station. The First Station is actually inside the working Islamic Al-Omariyeh College, whose entrance is the blue door at the top of the ramp on the southern side of the Via Dolorosa, east of the Ecce Homo Arch. Entry is not always permitted so don't be surprised if you are asked to leave. The college offers nothing of official Christian value to see nowadays (but the location does offer a spectacular view of the Haram ash-Sharif/Temple Mount through the barred windows on the upper level). The Second Station, located across the street from the college in the Franciscan Church of the Condemnation, is where it is believed Jesus received the cross. The Chapel of Flagellation, to the right, is where he is said to have been flogged. The Third Station, on Al-Wad Rd, is where it is believed Jesus fell for the first time. It is marked by a small Polish chapel, adjacent to the entrance of the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate Hospice. The Fourth Station, next to the Armenian Church (the wonderfully named Our Lady of the Spasm), marks the spot where Jesus is said to have faced his mother in the crowd of onlookers. The Fifth Station, where it is said that the Romans ordered Simon the Cyrene to help Jesus carry the cross, is where the Via Dolorosa climbs to the west. It is marked by signs around a door. The Sixth Station, further along the street, is where Veronica is believed to have wiped Jesus' face with a cloth. It is marked by a brown wooden door on the left. The Seventh Station, where it is believed he fell for the second time, is a small chapel in the bustling Souq Khan as-Zeit St, a major market place of restaurants, hostels, sweets stalls and jewellery shops. The Station is marked by signs on the wall of the souq. The Eighth Station can be easy to miss. To find it, cut straight across Souq Khan as-Zeit St from the Via Dolorosa and ascend Aqabat al-Khanqah. Opposite an internet café on the left is the stone and Latin cross marking where it is said Jesus told some women to cry for themselves and their children, not for him. Return the way you came, back to the Souq Khan as-Zeit, and turn right (south, away from Damascus Gate). Head up the stairway on your right and follow the path around to the Coptic Church. The remains of a column in its door mark the Ninth Station where it is believed Jesus fell the third time. Retrace your steps to the main street and head for the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; the remaining five stations are inside. As you enter the church, head up the steep stairway immediately to your right. The chapel at the top is divided into two naves. The right one belongs to the Franciscans, the left to the Greek Orthodox. At the entrance to the Franciscan Chapel is the Tenth Station, where Jesus is said to have been stripped of his clothes. The Eleventh Station is where it is said Jesus was nailed to the cross. The Twelvth Station, the Greek Orthodox Chapel, is said to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion. The Thirteenth Station, where the body of Jesus is said to have been taken down and handed to Mary, is between the 11th and 12th stations. The Fourteenth Station is the Holy Sepulchre, the Tomb of Jesus. The actual tomb is inside the Sepulchre. Candles lit by pilgrims who make a donation dominate the small tomb, with the raised marble slab covering the rock on which it is believed Jesus' body was laid.

The history of the Via Dolorosa goes back to the days of the Byzantine pilgrims, who trod the path from Gethsemane to Calvary on Holy Thursday, although there were no devotional stops en route.

By the 8th century, pilgrims were performing ritual stops to mark the stations of the cross; the route had also changed considerably and now went from Gethsemane around the outside of the city walls to Caiaphas' house on Mt Zion, then to the Praetorium of Pilate at St Sophia near the Temple, and eventually to the Holy Sepulchre.

In the Middle Ages, with Latin Christianity divided into two camps, the Via Dolorosa was twinned, each of the two claimed routes primarily visiting chapels belonging to either one or the other faction. In the 14th century, the Franciscans devised a walk of devotion that included some of the present-day stations but had as its starting point the Holy Sepulchre. This became the standard route for nearly two centuries but it was eventually modified by the desire of European pilgrims to follow the order of events of the gospels, finishing at the believed site of the Crucifixion rather than beginning there.

If historians had their way, the route would probably begin outside the Citadel, as this was the residence of Pilate when he lived in Jerusalem. Various Bible references to the trial of Jesus taking place on a platform (Matthew 27:19) and in the open (Luke 23:4, John 18:28) support this theory, as the palace is known to have had such a structure. Hence, it's believed that a more probable route for Jesus to have taken would be east along David St, north through the Butchers' Market of today, and then west to Golgotha.