"Via Dolorosa" (Path of Sorrow) or "Via Crucis" (Way of the Cross) is the route tradition Jesus followed, from his condemnation by the Romans to the spot where he was buried after the crucifixion. The path begins near Lions Gate (St. Stephen's Gate), in the Muslim Quarter, and ends within the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, in the heart of the Christian Quarter. This route is marked by the 14 Stations of the Cross. The present route, however, is somewhat different from the one Jesus walked. Of the fortress Antonia, for example, where Christ was judged before Pilate and where Herod the Great had his residence, only a few scraps of paving remain. This building, which stood near the Northwest corner of the Temple, was the starting-point for Jesus' painful walk toward Golgotha (Calvary), which at that time was outside the walls of the city. Every Friday afternoon the Franciscans lead a pious procession winding through the streets that witnessed Christ's suffering.
Station 1: The First Station is near the Monastery of the Flagellation, where Jesus was questioned by Pilate and then condemned. (John 19:1-3)The chapel, built during the 1920s on the site of a previous building erected by the Crusaders, is now run by the Franciscans, who set out from there each Friday for the traditional procession.