Walking Jesus’ Footsteps Via Dolorosa Old City Jerusalem

Via Dolorosa is a one of the most famous routes in the world.  Via Dolorosa means “Way of Grief,” “Way of Sorrow,” “Way of Suffering” or simply “Painful Way.    The significance of the road Via Dolorosa, is according to  scholars this is the route Jesus  would have taken while carrying the cross through Jerusalem to His crucifixion.  Via Dolorosa route would have been the main road in the city of Jerusalem at the time Jesus lived.  Roads in Jerusalem are narrow and made of stone and buildings on each side.  It is an experience for travelers in different smells of food, sounds of people selling their wares  and a glimpse into the way  the streets would have been when Jesus walked them many years ago.

Via Dolorosa is located within the Christian quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. When you join one of Maranatha Tours Holy Land Tours, you will view 9 of the Stations of the Cross. The first station on the Via Dolorosa marks where Jesus was condemned to death.  The second station on the path consists of an ancient Roman arch onto which the words spoken by the Roman emperor who sent Jesus to his death are carved. Once you walk past the arch you arrive at the third station on the Via Dolorosa, this time commemorating Jesus first fall from carrying the cross. The fourth station is believed to be where Jesus met with his mother, Mary.  We move onto the fifth station, this is where it is believed Simon of Cyrene helped Jesus carry the cross .The sixth station marks the meeting with Veronica who wipes the face of Jesus. The seventh  station is where  Jesus’ has his second fall from exhaustion. The eighth station is where Jesus met the women of Jerusalem.  It is here that Christ was helped by yet another pious woman.  The ninth post symbolizes the place where Jesus falls for the third time.  The remaining 5 stations are located inside Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Walking Jesus’ Footsteps Via Dolorosa Old City Jerusalem

The walk of the Via Dolorosa is always one of the most popular visits on all of our Holy Land tours.  We spend the whole day touring the Old City of Jerusalem. We walk via the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest site. We ascend to the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site of Islam, located on the traditional site of the ancient Temple Mount. Here the first and second Temples once stood. Just to the north we find the Pools of Bethesda (John 5) and St. Anne’s Church. The church is perfectly preserved from the Crusader period – with remarkable acoustics. Continuing on we see Pilate’s Judgment Hall, the Chapel of Flagellation, Lithostrotos, and the Arch of Ecce Homo (Behold the Man). We then follow the Way of the Cross (Via Dolorosa) through the bazaars as far as the Holy Sepulcher. From there we walk from the Christian Quarter along the Arab Souks through the Cardo Maximo and past the Armenian Quarter. Continuing to Mt Zion and to the grounds of a church called Peter in Gallicantu, which affords the best view of early Jerusalem from the west. (Here, the Assumptions Fathers suggest, was the house where the High Priest Caiaphas interrogated Jesus). We finish up at the Garden Tomb where we will end our day with a special visit and the possibility of having a private communion on the grounds outside the city walls.

Walk the Old City of Jerusalem Video