Via Dolorosa

Via Dolorosa - Jerusalem

Old Jerusalem's "pavement" like the one above date back to Biblical times. The famed Via Dolorosa in Old Jerusalem is said to retrace Jesus' steps from his sentencing by Pontius Pilate to his crucifixion at Golgotha. Via Dolorosa, which means "Path of Pain," is marked by 13 "stations", each commemorating an event that supposedly took place en route, as follows:

Station 1 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Pontius Pilate sentences Jesus to be crucified.
Station 2 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Jesus picks up his cross and starts walking.
Station 3 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Jesus falls down under the weight of the cross.
Station 4 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Jesus meets and chats with Mary, His mother.
Station 5 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Simon of Cyrene takes over carrying Jesus' cross.
Station 6 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Veronica wipes Jesus' face with a cloth.
Station 7 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Jesus falls down again under the cross' weight.
Station 8 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Jesus speaks to the women of Jerusalem.
Station 9 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Jesus falls down again under the cross' weight.
Station 10 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Jesus is stripped naked by the Roman soldiers.
Station 11 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Jesus is nailed to the cross.
Station 12 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Jesus dies on the cross.
Station 13 of Via Dolorosa is said to be where Jesus' body is anointed for burial.

Are these 13 'Stations' of Via Dolorosa authentic?

Some are inexplicable self-contradictions: Jesus did not carry the cross from station 5 to Golgotha, yet stations 7 and 9 claim to be the spots where Jesus fell down under the weight of the cross. Others are fabrications: there is nobody named Veronica in the Bible; Jesus neither met her (station 6) nor Mary (station 4) nor fell (station 3) during His walk. And the rest are arbitrary locations for Biblical but unplaceable events:

And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified. Now as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name. Him they compelled to bear His cross. And when they had come to a place called Golgotha... (Matthew 27:31-33)

And when they had mocked Him, they took the purple off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him out to crucify Him. Then they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross. And they brought Him to the place Golgotha... (Mark 15:20-22)

Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!’ Then they will begin ‘to say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!” ’ For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him... (Luke 23:26-33)

Then he delivered Him to them to be crucified. Then they took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him... (John 19:16-18)

Because the Bible does not specify (nor does it need to) the route Jesus took from Pontius Pilate to Golgotha, the route has been altered and manipulated over the centuries to lend credence to unbiblical Catholic relics (e.g., the cloth of "Saint" Veronica) and to elevate the prestige of the chapels and other real estate held by whichever Catholic order held sway in the Old City. When two rival Catholic orders held equal power in it during the Middle Ages, there were two different routes.

There is nothing painful about today's version of the "Path of Pain," which dates from the 19th century AD and almost the entire length of which is lined with shops, including large tourist shops strategically located next to each of the "stations."