Continuing my last post first.
I’ll quote the other Byzantine-era pilgrims.
This is the anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza:
Then we came to the basilica of Holy Zion, where there are many miraculous things, among which is the cornerstone about which it is written that it was rejected by the builders (Matt 21:42). As Lord Jesus entered into this church, which was the house of Saint James, he found that misshaped stone lying around, he picked it up and he placed it in the corner. …] In that church there is a column, where the Lord was whipped. That column has a great mark on it: while he clasped it, his chest inhered in that marble and both of his hands and his fingers and palms appear in that rock, such that measurements can be drawn out for all manner of ailments from it, and they wear them around their necks and they are healed. On that column there is a horn, from which the kings, including David, were anointed. There is in that church also the crown of thorns with which the Lord was crowned (Matt 27:29), and the lance with which the Lord’s side was pierced (John 19:34). There are many stones, with which Stephen was stoned (Acts 7). There is also the small column on which they cross of blessed Peter was set, on which he was crucified in Rome. There is the chalice of the apostles, with which they made communion after the Lord’s resurrection, and many other marvelous items which I can’t recall. There is a monastery of women. I saw a human head enclosed in a golden casket adorned with jewels, which they say is that of the holy martyr Theodota, from which many people drink for a blessing; so I drank, also.
From Zion we came to the basilica of Saint Mary, where there is a considerable congregation of monks and there are also hostels for men and women. They receive pilgrims with innumerable tables, and more than 3000 beds for the sick. We prayed in the praetorium where the Lord was tried, where there is the small basilica of Saint Sophia before the ruins of Solomon, beneath the streets which go down to the fountain of Siloam outside Solomon’s porch. In that basilica there is the seat where Pilate sat when he tried the Lord. Moreover the four-cornered stone is there, on which he was standing in the middle of the praetorium. The criminal being tried was raised up on this stone, so that all the people could see and hear him; the Lord was raised up on it when he was tried by Pilate, and his footprints remain on it. He had a pretty foot, small, delicate, and he was of a regular height, with a handsome appearance, curly hair, a shapely hand with long fingers; he is depicted in an image which was made of him while he was still living and is set in that same praetorium. From that rock, where he stood, many miracles are performed; a measure is taken from his footprints, and people wear them for various ailments and are cured. That stone is also decorated with gold and silver.
This is Theodosius (ca. 518):
In the city of Jerusalem at the Lord’s Sepulchre is the place of Calvary, where Abraham offered up his son for a burnt-offering, and because the mountain is rocky, Abraham made the altar in the mountain itself, i.e. At its foot. Above the altar the mountain towers and the ascent of the mountain is made by steps. There the Lord was crucified.
From the Lord’s Sepulchre to the place of Calvary it is 15
paces; it is all under one roof.
From the place of Calvary it is 15 paces to Golgotha, where the cross of the Lord was found.
From Golgotha it is 200 paces to holy Sion, the mother of all churches; which Sion our Lord Christ founded with His apostles. It was the house of S. Mark the Evangelist.
From holy Sion to the house of Caiphas, now the Church of S. Peter, it is 50 paces more or less.
From the house of Caiphas to the Hall of Pilate it is 100 paces more or less. There is the Church of S. Sophia. Hard by holy Jeremiah was cast into the pit.
The pillar formerly in the house of Caiaphas, at which the Lord Christ was scourged, is now in holy Sion. This pillar at the bidding of the Lord followed Him; and as He clung to it while He was being scourged, His arms, hands, and fingers sank into it, as if it were wax, and the marks appear to this day. Likewise His whole countenance, His chin, nose and eyes are imprinted on it as if it were wax.
S. Stephen was stoned outside the Galilean Gate; and there is his church, which was built by S. Eudocia, the wife of the emperor Theodosius.
The Pool of Siloam is 100 paces from the place where the prophet Jeremiah was cast into the pit; the pool is within the wall. From the house of Pilate to the Pool of the Sheep Market is about 100 paces. There the Lord Christ cured the palsied man, whose bed is still here. Also near the Pool of the Sheep Market is the Church of S. Mary.
This is from a
breviarius or short guidebook of Jerusalem.
Thence you go to a very great basilica on the holy Sion, wherein is the column at which the Lord Jesus was scourged. One may see there the print of His hands as He held it, marked as deep as though the stone were wax. Then you come up to the place of sacrifice, where is the stone with which Saint Stephen was stoned. In the midst of this church is the crown of thorns which Jesus received. And there is the lamp [by the light of which] He taught His disciples after He had supped. There is the rod [with which He was scourged] enclosed within a column of silver.
Thence you go to the House of Caiaphas, where St. Peter denied [Christ]; where there is a large church dedicated to Saint Peter. Thence you go to the house of Pilate, where he delivered over our Lord to the Jews after He had been scourged; where there is a large basilica, and in it there is a chamber which is where they stripped Him and He was scourged; it is called [the church of] Saint Sophia.
