After being sentenced to death and beaten by Roman soldiers, an exhausted Jesus began his terrible journey to the cross at Golgotha, a rocky hill just outside the walls of Jerusalem. Historians are uncertain about Jesus' actual route because most of jerusalem was destroyed about 40 years after his crucifixion. The 14 sites that mark the stations of the cross along the traditional route called the Via Dolorosa, or the "Way of Sorrows," date from later times.
According to tradition, Jesus' ordeal began at the Antonia, a fortress near the Temple. There the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, pronounced the sentence of death. At about 9 that morning, when the sun was already bright and very warm, Jesus was led away to be crucified. He was carrying a heavy 7-foot-long beam of his own cross on his shoulders. The upright post of the cross was already in place at Golgotha.
Saddled with his heavy burden after a sleepless night, Jesus may well have stumbled in the grooves that were cut into the pavement so that horses wouldn't lose their footing. He was probably jostled by the noisy crowd that had gathered to watch. Their voices must have bounced off the stone buildings of Jerusalem, confusing the weakened Jesus. After Jesus slipped for the third time, the crossbeam was taken from him. Even the cruelest witnesses must have felt sympathy. They probably fell silent in awe as he was led outside the gates to the place of execution
