Golgotha , (Aramaic: “Skull,”) also called Calvary, (from Latin calva: “bald head,” or “skull”), skull-shaped hill in Jerusalem, the site of Jesus’ crucifixion. It is referred to in all four Gospels.
The crucifixion takes place at a location called Calvary or Golgotha. Jesus is stripped and nailed to the Cross. Above his head is placed a sign that says ‘King of the Jews’. Two criminals are crucified alongside him.
Christian tradition since the fourth century has favoured a location now within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This places it well within today’s walls of Jerusalem, which surround the Old City and were rebuilt in the 16th century by the Ottoman Empire.
About a mile and a half when we look at the modern city of Jerusalem it is substantially further from Golgotha that a mile and a half but the old city of Jerusalem was situated much closer to the place of the skull.
Christian tradition generally places the tomb of Adam in Jerusalem under the place where Jesus was crucified, called the “Cave of Treasures” and described in the Syriac “Book of the Cave of Treasures.” Jewish tradition generally places the burial place of Adam in the Cave of Machpelah where Abraham and his sons are
Jesus, as described in the New Testament, was most likely crucified on Friday April 3, 33 A.D.
In apocryphal writings, the impenitent thief is given the name Gestas , which first appears in the Gospel of Nicodemus, while his companion is called Dismas . Christian tradition holds that Gestas was on the cross to the left of Jesus and Dismas was on the cross to the right of Jesus.
Jesus was crucified between two thieves in an attempt to degrade Jesus to a thief and a rebel. In short, Jesus took upon Himself the worst of everything (on the cross) as He was being substituted for the sins of humanity, so that all those who believe in Him can inherit all His richness!
Jesus’s death is the penalty or “satisfaction” for sin . Satisfaction was an idea used in the early church to describe the public actions – pilgrimage, charity – that a christian would undertake to show that he was grateful for forgiveness. Only Jesus can make satisfaction because he is without sin .
The route has been established by tradition rather than archaeological evidence. The final stations of the crucifixion and burial are within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The route is in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Via Dolorosa, which means “way of sorrows,” is about a half-mile long , or just under 1 kilometer.
According to the story, it was the dogwood tree that provided the wood used to build the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Because of its role in the crucifixion, it is said that God both cursed and blessed the tree.
The winding route from the former Antonia Fortress to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre — a distance of about 600 metres (2,000 feet) — is a celebrated place of Christian pilgrimage. The current route has been established since the 18th century, replacing various earlier versions.