The English names Calvary and Golgotha derive from the Vulgate Latin Calvariae, Calvariae locus and locum (all meaning “place of the Skull”), and Golgotha used by Jerome in his translations. There is no consensus as to the location of the site. John 19:20 describes the crucifixion site as being “near the city”. According to Hebrews 13:12, it was “outside the city gate.” Matthew 27:39 and Mark 15:29 both note that the location would have been accessible to “passers-by.” Thus, locating the crucifixion site involves identifying a site that, in Jerusalem before its destruction in AD 70, would have been outside a major gate near enough to the city that the passers-by could see him. Christian tradition has favored 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. Proponents of the location point out the fact that first-century Jerusalem had a different shape and size, leaving the church’s site outside the pre-AD 70 city walls.
Synonyms:
Calvary