Church of the Condemnation and Imposition of the Cross | |
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Interior view: Imposition of the Cross above the altar
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Basic information | |
Location | Jerusalem |
Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
Country | Palestine |
Leadership | Franciscan Order |
Architectural description | |
Architectural style | Byzantine |
Completed | 1904 |
The Church of the Condemnation and Imposition of the Cross is a Roman Catholic church located within the Franciscan compound that also contains the Church of the Flagellation in the old city of Jerusalem.
It marks the traditional spot where Jesus took up his cross after being sentenced to crucifixion.
However, this tradition is based on the mistaken assumption that on an area of Roman flagstones, discovered beneath the building and beneath the adjacent Convent of the Sisters of Zion, was the pavement (Greek: lithostratos) which the Bible describes as the location of Pontius Pilate's judgment of Jesus;archaeological investigation now indicates that these slabs are the paving of the eastern of two 2nd century Forums, built by Hadrian as part of the construction of Aelia Capitolina. The site of the Forum had previously been a large open-air pool, the Strouthion Pool, which was constructed by the Hasmoneans, is mentioned by Josephus as being adjacent to the Fortress in the first century, and is still present beneath Hadrian's flagstones; the traditional scene would require that everyone was walking on water.
Like Philo, Josephus testifies that the Roman governors stayed in Herod's palace while they were in Jerusalem, carried out their judgements on the pavement immediately outside it, and had those found guilty flogged there; Josephus indicates that Herod's palace is on the western hill, and it has recently (2001) been rediscovered under a corner of the Jaffa Gate citadel. Archaeologists now, therefore, conclude that, in the first century, the Roman Governors judged at the western hill, rather than the area around the Church of the Condemnation, on the diametrically opposite side of the city.