Flioto and copyright b\ Underwood & Underwood 

 PILGRIMS OF TODAY OFFe;RING SUPPLICATIONS AT THE^ STATIONS OF THE^ CROSS, VIA 

 DOLOROSA, THE ROUTE FOLLOWED BY JFSUS TO HIS CRUCIFIXION 



French pilgrims carrying a huge cross through Via Dolorosa, or "Street of Pain," to the 



Church of the Holy Sepulchre 



and Cana of Galilee, but the events are 

 not connected with any special feature of 

 the locality. Journeys are mentioned, but 

 not the route along which Christ passed, 

 except Sychar, in the Samaritan terri- 

 tory, where was Jacob's well, one of the 

 few sacred spots which can be positively 

 identified. (The Crusaders erected a 

 church over it which is now being re- 

 stored by Franciscan monks.) The cities 

 round the Sea of Galilee have, all except 

 Tiberias, vanished from the earth, and 

 the sites of most of them are doubtful. 

 The toAvn now called Nazareth has 



been accepted for many centuries as the 

 home of Christ's parents, but the evi- 

 dence to prove it so is by no means clear, 

 and it is hard to identify the cliff on 

 which the city was built. The Mount of 

 Olives, in particular, and the height on 

 its slope, where Christ, following the path 

 from Bethany, looked down on Jerusa- 

 lem, and the temple in all its beauty, are 

 the spots at which one seems to get into 

 the closest touch with the Gospel narra- 

 tive ; and it is just here that the scene has 

 been most changed by new buildings, high 

 w^alls, villas and convents and chapels. 



311 



