 |
| The Church of the Holy Sepulchre from station 9 |
 |
| You skirt the Temple mount in the first part of the walk |
It is the most celebrated walk in human history – its events
have intrigued historians, baffled scientists and is re-enacted in its
Christian encapsulation of the 14 stations every Easter. The ‘Via Dolorosa’
(meaning the ‘way of sorrows’)-when Christ walked and bled his last and the
resurrection that followed, form the cornerstone of Christianity.
Most pilgrims start the walk from the Lion’s gate. We
however start from Herod’s gate on the northern wall – an irony if you are a
pilgrim, fitting perhaps if you are simply touring the city. King Herod ruled
Judea (under Roman rule) between 37 BCE and 4 BCE. History documents him as a
great builder and a murderer (even of his own wife and children) – the second
description gets support in the Bible which accuses him of the murder of a
multitude of infants when he heard of a King (Jesus Christ) being born in his
land.
 |
| Statue of Christ in the Church of condemnation |
Both gates though will lead you into the Muslim quarter of
the old city which borders the Temple mount to the north and in part on the
west. It is short walk in parallel to the northern wall, past fruit sellers,
meat vendors, bakeries and other regular shops to the road straight up from
Lion’s gate. Suzanna our guide now turns around to the group with a caution
–“From here onwards we will only be climbing”. A few meters ahead is the point
of the first two stations (Jesus is condemned to death & Jesus receives his
cross). The site which is owned by the Franciscans houses the chapel of
flagellation and the Church of the condemnation. It is also where Herod’s fortress Antonia
stood. Many believe the Pilate’s praetorium was in the Antonia – hence the spot
for the first 2 stations. Apart from the few archaeological exhibits in the
courtyard, there is nothing out of the extraordinary about the Church. With
Latin Christians having built most of the Roman Catholic churches in Israel,
the insides are quite familiar with tall cylindrical pillars, crowned by
exquisite stucco work and high arches. The altars bear Latin inscriptions and
the corners hold statues of Christ or some saint – in this case one of them is
a statue of Jesus as a prisoner of the Jews with his crown of thorns.
Custodians of the Holy Land: You know if a site is owned by the
Franciscan order by two symbols – the 5 crosses and the image of 2 hands
crossing each other. The 5 crosses are said to be originally a crusader symbol,
then used by the Franciscans – it denotes the 5 wounds of Christ. The two hands
in the second symbol are that of Christ and St. Francis of Assisi. Both palms
contain wounds (perforation) of crucifixion. The Vatican has entrusted the Franciscans
to build and preserve churches on holy sites in the country since the 13th
century. They are known as ‘Custodia Terra Sanctae’. Read more at http://www.custodia.org/
 |
The Ecce homo arch - where Pilate is believed
to have presented Jesus to the Jews
saying "Ecce homo" (Behold the man!) |
We cross the Ecce homo arch and few carpet sellers and take
a 90o left onto El Wad Hagai (road) to get to the site of the 3rd
and 4th stations – Jesus falls for the first time and Jesus meets
his grieving mother. The site is a chapel belonging to the Armenian Catholic
Patriarchate. The front and the inside depict a cross bearing Christ on his
knees. The fourth station is adjacent to where we are, so we complete both
stations here itself. If the strain of the climbing is already taking its toll
on you, this is perhaps a good time to stop for a rest – next door is an
Armenian restaurant serving snacks and meals and happens to be right next to
the 4th station.
 |
| Inside the Armenian chapel |
 |
Incense - this one along with the bread (below)
was taken on the detour to the wailing wall |
After this point, the city closes in on you. The road gets
narrower and the Muslim quarter comes to life in a concoction of colours and
odours of an old mart – a commotion of pilgrims making their way through a
street market. Carpets in shades of red and brown hang from the walls of
limestone, blue and white ceramics are on display in some shops, the fumes of
incense mingle with the smell of hot bread -the circular bread (
beigel) with sesame toppings being the
most noticeable. Clearly, modern Jewish Israel hasn’t been able to suppress the
roots of the Old city.
 |
| Carpets for sale |
The fifth station (Simon of Cyrene help Jesus carry his
cross) sits on a T junction. You can continue straight to the Western wall or
turn right to continue on the Via Dolorosa. There is a small Franciscan chapel
here to mark the spot that was built in 1229 (their first site in Jerusalem) -
unfortunately it is closed. You might think that a group of 45 stopping here
even for a couple of minutes to complete the station might be rather
inconsiderate, but I guess the locals are used to this – there are many more
like us stopping on way saying their prayers at every station. But it is
important that you leave a small passage to allow people to pass through. From
here, we take the steps up towards the sixth station (Veronica wipes the face
of Jesus), the second of the less conspicuous stations (the others being the
fifth, seventh and eighth). Here stands another chapel with gate closed – this
time it’s Greek. If you think the
bazaars have been left behind, you’re wrong - religion and commerce continue
their competition for space, and the competition carries us straight ahead into
the Christian quarter and the Seventh station (Jesus falls a second time).
Again another chapel, again another closed door – too many chapels too few
priests I guess. At the Eighth station (Jesus speaks to the women of
Jerusalem)as well, there is nothing extravagant – in fact there isn’t even a
door here to the Greek Orthodox chapel behind the walls, just a postcard
seller.
 |
| Beigel |
To me it resembles a ‘land grab’ of sorts, similar to those history has
witnessed at the discovery of any expensive commodity like gold or oil. Now
certainly, religion is no commodity – all religions have strong brands –
strongly segmented masses, icons, symbols and jingles of association and the
ultimate loyalty that brings forth martyrs and saints. Jerusalem is perhaps the
holiest city in the world – a consecrated piece of land to Jews, Christians and
Muslims. So it isn’t surprising that at every opportunity, members of all three
religions with their internal factions took land and built grand buildings of
prayer on each one of them. Of course, politics interfered quite often leaving
things to disgrace rather than veneration. Today, on the 18th of December, as news channels report on the flaring up of the Israeli-Arab conflict, we in Jerusalem, a few kms from the West bank are walking peacefully through the city. There are no signs of any tensions or lack of safety. There at least appears to be harmony in the four quarters - a testament to Al-Quds.
 |
| The markers of the path - the tiled slab naming the path, the franciscan symbols and the roman numeral on the circular metal plate denoting the station. If you are ever confused/lost these are your crumbs of hansel |
You have to retrace your steps back to the seventh station
and take a right to move towards the ninth station. We are now in the Souq Khan
el Zeit. The pandemonium is magnified, and a third sense is provoked with local
music blasting away. We are suddenly jostled to one side by a procession – at
the head is a priest in black carrying a large wooden cross and following him
are a group of about 20-25 people- mostly women with scarves on their heads.
They are obviously on the same path, but are in some sort of hurry. Behind them
is another man yelling instructions in Arabic. He is one of the traders and is
pushing a huge cart up the road – we part again. Looks like commerce is playing
second fiddle here, but whose side are we on I wonder!
 |
| Make way for the cart |
You need to take care not to miss the right turn that leads
to the open stairs from the Souq – ask around, there are no markers here. The stairs
take you to the ninth station (Jesus falls a third time) where we get our first
glimpse of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. A Coptic Church marks the spot.
It’s a few meters ahead and left to the terrace of arguably the most sacred
Church in Christianity.
The Church of the Holy Sepulchre was originally built by Emperor
Constantine in 333 AD after his mother (St. Helena) determined the location of
Golgotha in 326 AD. Since then it was destroyed and rebuilt, but the
foundations remain. It houses churches for the Catholics, Armenians, Syrian
Orthodox, Greeks Orthodox, Coptics and Ethiopians. But the keys to the church
are in possession of two Muslim families – Nuseibeh and Judeh. They open the
Church every day – a tradition that has been followed since the 13th
century.
 |
| In the African village on the terrace of the Church of Holy Sepulchre |
 |
| Depiction of the last 3 stations |
 |
| The Rotunda with the top of the chapel housing the tomb |
We move down past a few chapels into the main Church.
Stations 10-14 are here in different parts of the Church. It’s Sunday, and
prayers/masses are all around. Moreover, when there is mass, that part of the
Church is cordoned off, so we cannot complete the stations in sequence. The
most easily accessible is the 13
th station – a raised block of stone
on which Christ was laid after he was taken down from the cross. Behind it is
an exquisite mosaic depiction of the last 3 stations. We move towards the Rotunda,
where the tomb of Christ sits in a stone cubicle structure in the centre.
 |
| Finish! Finish! |
The
ambulatory around it is packed with pilgrims – it’s a fusion of races, colour
and language, possibly even citizens of politically opposite states – a sight
that would make any leader of the Church proud. But the sight isn’t so
comforting for us, the pilgrims, standing in the long line awaiting our turn to
get into the little chapel. The chapel has a narrow entrance – one can pass in
or out at a time. And as luck would have it, it is time for the Armenians to
conduct mass. Pipe organs and a deep chorus of hymns fill the rotunda. It would have spooked me out if I was alone, but now in
some way it completes the scenes of devotion before me. About half an hour later,
the Armenian priests walk through the outer section of the ambulatory
oscillating their thuribles and spreading the vapors of incense all around. The
organ dies down. The route to the chapel is open once more.
 |
| The mosaic at Golgotha |
The experience of the tomb is rushed – quite natural given
the number of people waiting to get in. It simply doesn't give you time to let
it all sink in. I move in under the dim light into the first part – the chapel
of the Angels where there stands a part of the stone that covered Christ’s
tomb. Up ahead is a priest dressed in black yelling ‘Finish! Finish!” between
deep yawns. He has obviously had a long day. He finally signals to me to get it
in – I have merely two minutes for the realization that the tomb of My God lies
in front of me to hit my tired brain, before I hear the priest again. It all
happened so fast, a wait for over an hour for an experience of two minutes!
 |
The front facade of the Church
(our tour group in the foreground) |
We then make our way down and back up another flight of
stairs to the site of the Crucifixion – the stone of Golgotha. This time the
crowd is smaller, but Suzanna issues a warning – “This is not a place for
prayers. Touch the stone and move quickly”. But the crowd bought me enough of
time to at least admire the mosaic on the ceiling and pillars depicting
Christ’s last moments on earth alive in the flesh. Again the experience ends in a flash – a
quick kneel, stick your hand out to feel the stone and your off, out of the
site and downstairs one more.
It was done, it took us no less than three and a half hours,
but the Via Dolorosa was complete. It’s as one of the group mentioned a little later –
“Your Easters will never be the same again”.
More pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/fotos_riaan/sets/72157632150873204/
TIPS
- You can join the Franciscan Clergy every Friday for the 14 stations
- If you have the legs for it, you should start from the Mount of Olives and trace the steps of Christ across the Kidron valley and into the city of
Jerusalem as well – the sights will astound you!
- If you are with old/sick/crippled people, you
might want to go with a tour – the older/crippled people are generally allowed
to sit out their turn or move up in line and coordination becomes easier with a
lot of people around.
- Start early and finish early to appreciate the
grandeur of the buildings especially the Church of the Holy Sepluchre– more so in
the winters. Israel moves back its clocks and sunset is at around 4:30 pm.
- We toured the Holy Land with Purple Orchid (http://purpleorchidholidays.com/) –
the guidance and arrangements were great, but it felt a bit rushed at times (like any tour would). If you have the
time and the energy, you should travel through the entire Old city on foot – it is
just 1 sq. km! And keep aside at least 3 whole days to explore all of Jerusalem.
References/Further reading
