Jesus' passage from the place of judgment to the place of execution is described by Stations II to IX of the Stations of the Cross: the threefold fall, the encounter with his mother, Veronica and the women, the help from Simon of Cyrene. At Golgotha, the crucifixion and entombment in a garden on the site of the former Jerusalem quarry. The fragile rock was a stone rejected by the builders, but became the cornerstone of Christianity. One may accept this as dogma and not dig into the holy ground, not check the location with one's nose in a map, not smell or stroke the stones in the underground, not apply a scientific worldview to matters of faith. However, ecce homo iustus, here is just a man who wants to know how it was in human terms.

We are blessed

The Way of the Cross is marked by circular emblems with Roman numbers on the walls of buildings in the old city of Jerusalem. A metal miniature of a biblical or apocryphal event completes the modest décor. To this, a black semicircle of stones is cut away on the light-coloured paving. However, before we reach the beginning of the Via Dolorosa through St Stephen's Gate, on the side of the Garden of Gethsemane, we encounter a minor execution site: a plaque commemorating Hayyim Kerman, a victim of a terrorist attack who died here on 6 June 1998 at the hands of a knifeman. A little further on, a plaque with a quotation from St Mark's: „Wtedy Jezus rzekł do uczniów swoich: Jeśli kto chce pójść za mną, niech się zaprze samego siebie i weźmie krzyż swój, i niech idzie za mną” (Mk 8,34). I am going. So do thousands of worshippers every day. The route from the Muslim to the Christian quarter is 600 metres, taking half an hour to walk.

We begin the journey at 'Station Two', when Jesus took the cross on his shoulders. The emblem is affixed to the outside wall of the Church of the Conviction of Death, a modest chapel on the grounds of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, where the damaged statue of Jesus wearing the crown of thorns lies. At the beginning of February 2023, an over-zealous Jew chopped it off its legs with a single swing of a machete and was overpowered by a guard. The wooden statue is to be repaired, the Franciscans have already contacted the Spanish company that made the statue a century ago and undertook the restoration, but will not start work until after Easter. Until then, the lying footless Jesus is all the more eloquent a reminder of the suffering he underwent.

We continue walking along the Via Dolorosa. There is a canary cage and woven carpets hanging by the station number, maybe someone will be tempted? In the souvenir shop there is a Roman legionary's helmet for sale, a short sword and leather sandals if you want to walk on the wrong side, or a crown of thorns for 20 shekels (25 PLN). Several are sold a day, sometimes people put them on their heads. Large crosses made of wood for 200 shekels (250 PLN) are available for hire, with which groups of pilgrims glide towards the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. The faithful are from all over the world, many from Poland. "Hail Mary" and "Who suffered wounds for us" are carried over the slippery cobblestones as it rains in Jerusalem.

As you walk, you can make use of a metal railing on the wall. You pass the alleged house of Mary and the prison of Jesus belonging to the eastern churches, where a winding staircase descends well below street level, which may indicate the authenticity of these sites. Today's cobblestones rise 2-3 metres above the old tract, as the sewage works showed, so there is no question of walking on the same stones as Jesus, should anyone ask. No one asks, many believe. However, a particular stone has been preserved in the basement of the church of Ecce Homo, owned by the Sistine Sisters: it comes from the courtyard of the Roman fortress of Antonia and bears the marks of soldiers' games from Jesus' time. It is supposed to be part of the lithostrotos, the cobbled place mentioned by St John: "When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out and sat down on the judge’s seat at a place known as the Stone Pavement (which in Aramaic is Gabbatha). (J 19,13).

Opposite the entrance to the Ecce Homo church, just under the arch dating back to the time of Emperor Titus and more readily photographed by tourists, is a Koranic school. It hands out copies of the Koran in many languages: the Polish has just run out, but there is a leaflet about Islam in our language, and how about a moment's chat and a cup of tea? Next time. Another deadly plaque on the wall: Eliyyahu Amadi was killed on 16 November 1987 in a knife attack. The first section of the Via Dolorosa comes to an end: at the police station you now have to turn left into el-Wad Passage. Right next to it is the 'Third Station', when Jesus fell for the first time. The gate is decorated with a motif of thorns, barbed wire or Jewish letters - it's hard to tell and that was the point.

Above the entrance, the inscription Armenian Catholic Patriarchate, with the third 'a' in the word patriarchate dropped out. On the portal a bas-relief of a falling Jesus and in Italian small print: "Vittoria Gismondi pellegrina in T.S. a ricordo dei suoi genitori", i.e. the pilgrim wanted to commemorate her parents, she only mentioned herself. Pleasingly, though, the chapel was founded on the initiative of Father Stefan Pietruszka-Jabłonowski, who, after serving as chaplain of the Officers' Legion, became vicar of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem for Polish pastoral work in 1942 and directed the Polish Catholic Mission in the Holy Land for many years. He persuaded the soldiers of General Anders' 2nd Army Corps, who were stationed in Palestine during World War 2, to build a chapel. Hence the Polish traces: on the dome an eagle and the prophetic "Stations of the Cross of the Poles", on the altar a white Jesus bending under a marble cross, with a host of saints looking on from heaven as if they were reciting the roll call of the fallen. According to the guides, the author of the work is Tadeusz Zieliński; the signature under the sculpture is A. Minghelli.

The chapel is looked after by the Armenian-Catholic church. Inside, day after day, sits an elderly Armenian woman who keeps a brush and mop in the folds of the room and has blue bags from Ikea stashed there. You can buy a small candle for a dollar or a large one for seven. Expensive compared to the bazaar next door "We are blessed, it has stopped raining," says the guide. It's not far away: 'Station Four', when Jesus meets Mary, sits right next door. Marked at the gate to the courtyard. On the portal is a bas-relief of the Mother comforting her Son, also by Tadeusz Zieliński. The chapel from the 15th century - also under the care of Armenian Uniates - has a monstrance by Gdańsk artist Mariusz Drapikowski, 'Heavenly Jerusalem'. For the time being, it is closed for good, as Armenian hands suggest. A waiter from an Armenian restaurant with local specialities and alcohol, which has taken over the courtyard, confirms the same. Across the street sits a rival, the Arabic Basti, in existence since 1927, which serves halal meat and tea without alcohol. Next door are stalls selling dates and the first strawberries. Old women extol fresh herbs and sultanas. It was no different in Jesus' time .

Station Five, when Simon the Cyrenean helps carry Jesus' cross. This makes sense, because at this point the Via Dolorosa begins to climb upwards into the western part of the old town. All that remains of the Franciscan monastery is a small chapel from the 19th century. In the wall, people touch the stone in which Jesus or the Virgin Mary was supposed to have imprinted his hand, unsure, they pose one after the other. Opposite, an Arab shop: prayer rugs, head coverings, chadors for women, cushions with embroideries from Mecca, t-shirts with funny inscriptions: Guns'n'Moses or JerUSAlem. In the morning, a stack of rubbish piles up against the wall with the station's emblem: cardboard boxes, cabinet fragments, a broken fan. Down the narrow street of Via Dolorsa comes a motorbike with a trailer - a local rubbish truck, a regular vehicle would not fit. A shop opens its doors, where an Arab foundation sells brushes made by blind people. Via Dolorosa also means seeing people in need.

No photos

The second section is narrow as an arm stretch. Halfway up the approach is Station Six, where St Veronica wiped the face of Jesus. The small chapel has a crypt reaching the level of the former streets of Jerusalem, and archaeologists can also see the remains of the monastery of Saints Cosmas and Damian from the sixth century. The site belongs to the Little Sisters of Jesus of Charles de Foucauld, who run an icon workshop behind a blue door. An image of Veronica and Jesus can be bought for 20 shekels, a promotion today, with many other figures and scenes from the Bible to choose from. Across the alley, an Arab shop with an even more extensive offer: Jesus painted, Jesus carved, Jesus woven, Jesus plastic. I ask about a headscarf along the lines of the one used by Veronica. They have been there and gone. When will they be on sale again? And how many do I want? One. The salesman doesn't even interrupt the phone call, because what's the business?

At the Suq Passage, another plaque: Yig'al Shahaf was killed here on 11 October 1987 by a bullet. At the stand, pressed pomegranate, orange and carrot juices, also chilled drinks, because it is Ramadan and worshippers want to drink after leaving the mosque. The main avenue, so the crowd overflows: pilgrims praying, tourists sightseeing - one and all recording with their phones, locals passing through. This is 'Station Seven', when Jesus falls for the second time. The entrance to the chapel is guarded by a Custody of the Holy Land. The altarpiece was funded in the late 19th century by donors from France, and ten years ago the interior was restored by Aleksander Piotrowski, owner of the company AC Konserwacja Zabytków from Krakow, as a sponsorship plaque reminds us. The guide says that there was an exit from the city at which the death sentence was posted, hence the name Judgement Gate. Whether to believe him or not, when he announces to the group after a while that they will miss the next station - why turn down a side street and come back after a while, as if those few tens of metres would save them, but the Arab guide hurries through the programme.

Station Eight', when Jesus encounters the weeping women, is continually fouled by pigeons, because instead of the roof of the bazaar, a patch of sky is again visible. It is marked by a fragment of an early Christian plaque built into the wall of a Greek monastery: a cross with the Christogram IC XC NIKA, Jesus Christ the Victor. Vis a vis sits old Abraham, a Bedouin from Beer Sheva, who is annoyed by the pilgrims obstructing the entrance to the antiquities stall. "No photos," he frets when people want to immortalise the picturesque old man with the goodies. He is Muslim, but sings Polish religious songs under his breath as another group approaches. I ask about portraits of women in folk costumes from different parts of Palestine, perhaps they were the ones who mourned Jesus. I can buy for 100 shekels or photograph them for 30.

"The Ninth Station", when Jesus falls for the third time, is at the Coptic Patriarchate on the roof of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, where you have to turn abruptly to the right out of the bazaar - without any signage: behind the squeezed juice stall, right next to the rubbish bins. Then up the stairs sharply, at the laundromat the road turns back, continues along the passage and to the left at the last devotional shop. Under the emblem with the number IX there are crosses left by pilgrims. A mattress is leaning against the wall, as James from America sleeps here. He came to Jerusalem 15 years ago and stayed forever. He lives like Jesus, walking around in a white tunic and woollen mantle, holding a wooden stick and a leather-bound Scripture. He has not worn shoes for years. He laughs that Jesus walking on water didn't have them either, but he himself has never called himself Jesus, although people insist on calling him that. He argued about it, but you don't win. - I'm James and I want to live like the Jesus whom I love. Even when I tell the kids this, they nod their heads and say, 'OK, Jesus'. But if people see Jesus in me it's great because he speaks through me," says James.

The last five stations, leading Jesus to his death on the cross, are located in the grounds of the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, where you can touch Golgotha and kneel at the Tomb. According to Roman and Jewish law, the execution of the condemned could only take place outside the city. "So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha" (J 17-20). "Now in the place where he was crucified there was a zgarden, and ain the garden a new tomb bin which no one had yet been laid" (J 19, 41). This is a garden in the former Jerusalem quarry that surrounded Golgotha and belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. Among the green grass grew white stones like today around the city.

From Annas to Caiaphas

In 125 AD, the holy site was backfilled, covered by a temple of Venus and Jupiter. In the 4th century, the land was redeemed and unearthed by St Helena to build the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. Already in the Byzantine period, on Maundy Thursday night, the faithful walked there in procession from the top of the Mount of Olives to Golgotha, taking a similar route to the one we take today. In the eighth century, the number of stations was eight, but the route led from Gethsemane south around the city, from Caiaphas' house on Mount Zion - where the staircase by which Jesus may have been led to Golgotha still exists. In the Middle Ages, Christians split into two factions: one located the judgment of Jesus on Mount Zion, the other north of the temple - consequently, two completely different routes were taken for the Way of the Cross. "The essence of the conflict was simple: one group had churches on the western hill, the other on the eastern hill," writes Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, an Irish Dominican and professor at the École Biblique in Jerusalem, who died there a decade ago, in his excellent 'Guide to the Holy Land'.

The final form of today's route dates back to the 14th century, when it was celebrated by the Crusaders with the Franciscans, and a growing number of the faithful. Note - the starting point was the Lord's Tomb and the procession stopped at eight stations (the last being the current seventh). Meanwhile, many pilgrims who could not afford the long-distance pilgrimage to the Holy Land were organising similar experiences of the Passion in their countries in Europe, but in their tradition fourteen stations had developed. Brought up in this spirit, the faithful later arriving in Jerusalem expected to find on the spot the same thing they were used to, and the European tradition eventually prevailed - the Way of the Cross was lengthened by the addition of the stations located in the basilica. The final route was established in the 18th century, with several stations - the first, fourth, fifth and eighth - only obtaining their current location in the 19th century.

So much tradition, not history, because Murphy-O'Connor writes that the Stations of the Cross were not based on historical testimony and do not correspond to reality. But what is the truth? Especially since the historian uses a key word in this story: probably. According to him, Pi¬lat was to condemn Jesus not in the fortress of Antonia, where the praetorium was placed by Franciscan tradition, but in the western part of the city in the palace of Herod Antipas or next door in the citadel. St John wrote in the passage referred to about the lithostrotos, a cobbled place, in Hebrew called Gabbata - meaning Stone Pavement (Jn 19:13), which agrees with the topography of the western part of the city on the hill. "When the Roman governor came to Caesarea, he resided in Herod's palace," reported Philo. Flavius wrote that such a procedure was in force in 66 after Christ ('The Jewish War'). "If, as seems likely, Jesus was led through the city on his way to the place of crucifixion, the presumed route would have been east along David Street, north to the Triple Sukkah, then west to Golgotha," - concludes Murphy-O'Connor, implying a route from the west, not the east.

Jesus was sent from Caiaphas to Annas, from Herod to Pilate („Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the governor’s headquarters (praetorium), ( J 18,28). Essential question: where was the praetorium? A non-concrete answer: where the procurator was at any given time. Pilate's residence was in Caesarea by the sea and he would only come to Jerusalem in an emergency, as at that time for the feast of Passover, because the city was always eruptive, meanwhile he had caused the first Easter. He had no residence here. The Franciscan tradition took over the customs of the faithful and the Crusaders, who located the praetorium in the fortress of Antonia, north of the Jerusalem temple, built by the Romans to control it.

Its fragment is supposed to be the lithostrotos stone from the church of Ecce Homo: the Emperor Hadrian, in laying the pavement in the Aelia Capitolina, as he called Jerusalem, used slabs from the courtyard of the Antonia fortress demolished in 70 AD by the Emperor Titus Flavius. - From the fortress Pilate had easy access to the temple. The Dominican school, indicates the site of Jesus' judgment in Herod's Palace. I acknowledge that Pilate may have lived there, but for the Passover he moved to the Antonia fortress. It was a dangerous period like Ramadan now, when all the forces of Israel gather in the Holy City. The Roman governor wanted to control the situation," says Father Jerzy Kraj, a Franciscan who has been in Jerusalem for 40 years and heads the Christian Information Centre in the Old City. Father Jerzy is familiar with Murphy-O'Connor's book - especially its scientific consultant Father Professor Waldemar Chrostowski, who is an authority on biblical matters - but he disagrees with them. He speaks of the alternative route of the Stations of the Cross as an attempt to uncover a history of Jerusalem built on sensationalism, which scholars are entitled to do and is not heretical, but is the game worth the effort in the basilica? He points out that the reverse route has never been celebrated in tradition: from west to east, which only appeared in the 20th century and marks a very short walk to Golgotha. He therefore advocates the old route, based on the continuity of tradition and the devotion of pilgrims, as well as his Christian Information Centre, where he invites you to an excellent multimedia presentation on the architecture of old Jerusalem, with its three-dimensional model. Coloured lights show important places for the mystery of the Passion. There is also the fortress of Antonia, where it all began.

For Father Eleazar (20 years in the Holy Land), these are historical nuances: how many metres wide was the quarry that erected Golgotha, did Jesus encircle it from the left or the right? He himself also favours the route created over the centuries and steeped in tradition, although he considers the location of the praetorium in the citadel. He admits that then sending Jesus away would have been reduced to a single object and a short distance to travel, and He could barely walk anymore. On the other hand Pilate and Herod did not like each other, could they have lived together? - There are too few sources that tip the scales, says Father. It seems to him that in marking out a new route for the Way of the Cross, the idea is to make a scientific appearance, to challenge a known truth, which needs to be investigated, but in doing so not to throw the baby out with the bathwater. There is no room for a contrary route in the old town. It is logistically impossible.

Dominican Father Łukasz Popko (15 years in Jerusalem), professor at the local École Biblique, located a few steps from the Damascus Gate, agrees. "The Way of the Cross has existed for 800 years and is part of the life of the Church. Carving out a new one is not possible and there is no need to do so. Some of the stations are also unbiblical, but no one intends to castigate them. When walking the Way of the Cross myself, I do not need to step out of the pattern of tradition. The Passion of Christ is about a much deeper purpose and the exact location is not needed," says Father Popko.

He agrees with the hypothesis that Pilate stayed at the palace of Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, which was adapted for the dignified hosting of Caesar's governor much better than the fortress of Antonia, which was a post at the temple rather than a dignified residence. There was a citadel next to the palace and this may have been the praetorium where Pilate sentenced Jesus to death. Archaeological work has uncovered a cobbled site. - It's deductive work and I won't be swayed by it," laughs Father Łukasz.

He further inquires: - Does a general have to be on the front line and live in a fortress? At Herod's Palace, he could show who rules the city and occupies a symbolic place of power. It's a political move. The Romans were the hosts in Jerusalem. They were the ones who abolished the power of the king and Herod Antipas had no say. He was not a king, but an executor of orders. Or was the road to Golgotha even shorter than in Murphy-O'Connor's description? From the Citadel through the gate where the Cyrenaean returning from the field was stopped. For these considerations, one needs to know the topography of the place: streets, passages, squares, gates. In 2022, the École Biblique published 'The Topography of Ancient Jerusalem' (from 200 years before to 200 years after Christ), by the Dominican Dominique-Marie Cabaret, in which the author draws out the street network of the city. The temple square was a natural agora, occupying up to a fifth of the city's surface area, which is why Jesus preached there. We are still learning.

I have seen in Jerusalem Dominicans from France celebrating the Stations of the Cross in the opposite direction, walking from the citadel through a crowded bazaar, stopping along the way in vacant lots to meditate, because the stations are not there after all. I ask Father Popko about this, but he smiles that he walks the traditional route. Father Eleazar perversely still recalls the Stations of the Cross celebrated in the Chapel of the Flagellation at Station One or on the roof of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at Station Nine. There can be many roads, all leading to the same destination: The Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher, whose location is not in doubt.

The candles are going out

This year there is an overlap between the feasts of three great religions: Easter, Passover and Ramadan. An explosive cocktail as befits a holy city. Easter fell on 9 April, Passover on 6 April. Ramadan had already begun on 23 March, which was announced in old Jerusalem by salvos of firecrackers and a forest of twinkling lights on Arab houses. The army was put on alert, patrols much more numerous than usual can be seen, fingers on triggers, nervousness. On the first Friday of the holy month, 100,000 people poured out of the mosque on the rock and blocked the narrow streets for two hours, but it was peaceful. Miraculously for the time, crosses and rosaries gave way to prayer rugs, cold drinks and sweets for the festive evening. In an even more miraculous way, the Muslim crowd quietened down just before 3pm so that the Way of the Cross could be led by Franciscans, otherwise it would have been a challenge for Catholics to cross the black sea.

In the courtyard of the Omariya Muslim boys' school - there was a chapel on this site in the Middle Ages, and a madrassa was built in the 14th century - we seek shade under the orange trees, as the weather is beautiful. There are about a hundred of us - a handful compared to the crowd at the mosque. Usually many more come, but this night there was a time change and people could get lost. Japanese, Italians, Germans, Poles, nuns and 20 Franciscans. We start praying in several languages in the courtyard. This is the symbolic first station, somewhere underground there was supposed to be a praetorium, although the emblem with the number necessarily hangs on the outside wall of the school building. The procession does not walk, but rushes. No Polish ornamentation or reverie: no kneeling, not even a cross. To make matters worse, the muezzin's voice drowns out the procession's loudspeaker, even though it is broadcast live on the Franciscans' news channel. The faithful get lost along the way, with only the bravest reaching the basilica.

SIGN UP TO OUR PAGE Nothing lost: every day at 4pm, a Franciscan procession marches through its interior recounting the Passion of Christ. This custom is mentioned in the diary of the pilgrim Egeria, who was in Jerusalem at the end of the 4th century. In 1431, the pilgrim Marian of Siena states that the Franciscans celebrate the procession independently of the other communities in the basilica. The individual stations were meditations on episodes of the Passion. Each consisted of an antiphon, verse and prayer, sometimes anthems. A version of the procession was approved by the Custodian of the Holy Land, Thomas Obicini, in the Ordo Processionalis of 1623 and remained in use until 1925, when changes were made to the hymns to bring them into line with the Roman Antiphonary.

One hundred years ago, the number of stations was determined - 14. They do not correspond to the usual ones, and are related to the places in the basilica: Altar of the Blessed Sacrament, Column of the Scourging, Prison of Christ, Altar of the Dividing of the Garments, Grotto of the Finding of the Holy Cross, Chapel of Saint Helena, Chapel of the Coronation and Insult, Place of the Crucifixion on Calvary, Place, where Christ died on the Cross, the altar of the Mother of Sorrows, the Stone of Anointing, the Glorious Tomb of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the place of the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene and the chapel of the appearance of the Risen Jesus to His Mother. The prayers emphasise that everything happened in this place, at this column, on this mountain, in this grotto.

The Franciscans' procession through the basilica moves at the same fast pace as on the Via Dolorosa - apparently the Order has walking in its blood. Father Wlodzimierz, who has been living in Jerusalem for three years - he is currently hearing confessions in the sacristy, but we can talk here, as the confessional is the quietest - he jokes that you have to run in the procession, plus there are stairs and holes in the basilica floor on the way, so the candles go out in a hurry and people light them from their neighbours. Franciscans have their own ways. Father Włodzimierz has learned various techniques, although he admits that for two months of ministry he did not know what the procession was about. The texts in Latin are written in poetic language and you have to read in. It was only after time that he began to truly pray.

Today, the 20 Franciscan monks are followed by a second number of faithful who picked up candles and prayer books earlier in the sacristy, because not everyone knows Latin. A wonderful feeling, everyone gives way to us. The roaring basilica quiets down a little and belongs to us. Only the route is truncated, there is a perpetual renovation going on and we start from station four at the altar of the division of vestments. The prayer booklet is in Polish, but it is difficult to concentrate on keeping up with the Franciscan ritual. The pages show wax stains from the dripping candles of my predecessors; after the procession, I hand over my copy. The candle stays forever.

The street network

Imprimatur does not imply revealed truth, but perhaps the mystic Katharine Emmerich, who obtained a vision of the Passion, was right. From her words, much can be deduced about the location of the Way of the Cross. "Jesus was led into an alley only a few steps wide, running down alleys, and full of rubbish and uncleanness. New torments awaited Jesus here. The executioners now had to walk close to Him and, of course, they did not miss opportunities to tease Him. Taunts and insults poured from windows and openings in the walls, servants and slaves, busy around the houses, pelted Him with mud and kitchen waste, and some wicked men poured stinking dishwater on His head. Even the children, incited, gathered stones into the underparts of their dresses and, running out into the middle of the road, poured them at Jesus' feet, insulting and blaspheming at the same time." Perhaps this means the poor eastern part of the city, rather than the rich western part, Jerusalem's West End?

"Thus amidst the magnified torment Jesus walked shakily along a street, already wider at this point and rising slightly upwards. At the end, the street turned left again, widened and rose slightly upwards. (...) Continuing along this street, the procession reached a vaulted gate in the old inner city walls. In front of the gate there is a vacant square where three streets converge. (...) The procession now advanced along a long street, turning slightly to the left, crossed by many side streets. (…)

The path now led a little downhill, towards the gate, still quite a distance away. The gate itself is solidly built and is quite long; first passing under one arched vault, then over a small bridge and under a second vault to emerge outside the walls. The gate faces south-west. To the left of the gate the wall continues south for a few minutes' walk, turns to the west and then runs south again and encircles Mount Zion. To the right of the gate the wall runs northwards as far as the corner gate, and from there it turns east along the north side of the city. (...) Looking from the gate by which Jesus was led out, to the left to the south-west, you can see the Bethlehem gate; these two gates are from the gates of Jerusalem closest to each other. In front of the gate, in the middle of the gateway, at the point where the road to the mountain of Calvary turns, stood a pounded-in pillar with a tablet fixed on it, on which, in large, white, as if pasted letters, was written the death sentence on the Saviour." (…)

"After a moment's rest, the procession continued along the tortuous, wild road between the city walls and Calvary in a northerly direction. The henchmen, heedless of anything, chased Jesus uphill, dragged him by the ropes, beat him and pushed him. At one point, the road turned back, taking the southern direction again. Here Jesus fell for the sixth time under the weight of the cross, but the executioners, with greater cruelty than before, forced him to rise by beating him and drove him relentlessly up the mountain to the place of execution, where Jesus, breathless, almost fell to the ground with the cross for the seventh time. And then it is all known.

– Jakub Kowalski from Jerusalem
- Translated by Tomasz Krzyżanowski

TVP WEEKLY. Editorial team and jornalists