e trodden when for the last time he wandered as God-man on earth,
bowed down by the weight of the cross, on his way to Golgotha. The
spots where Christ sank exhausted are marked by fragments of the
pillars which St. Helena caused to be attached to the houses on
either side of the way. Further on we reach the "Zwerchgasse," the
place whither the Virgin Mary is said to have come in haste to see
her beloved Son for the last time.

Next we visited Pilate's house, which is partly a ruin, the
remaining portion serving as a barrack for Turkish soldiers. I was
shewn the spot where the "holy stairs" stood, up which our Lord is
said to have walked. On my return, I saw these stairs in the church
of S. Giovanni di Laterani. They also pretend to show the place
where the Saviour was brought out before the multitude by Pilate. A
little distance off, in the midst of a dark vault, they shew the
traveller the stone to which Jesus was bound when "they scourged
Him."

We ascended the highest terrace of this house, as this spot affords
the best view of the magnificent mosque of Omar, standing in a large
courtyard. With this exterior view the traveller is fain to be
content; for the Turks are here much more fanatical than those in
Constantinople and many other towns, so that an attempt to penetrate
even into the courtyard would be unsuccessful; the intruder would
run the risk of being assailed with a shower of stones. But in
proportion as the Turks are strict in the observance of their own
ceremonies and customs, so they respect those Christians who are
religious and devotional.

Every Christian can go with perfect impunity to pray at all the
places which are sacred in his eyes, without fear of being taunted
or annoyed by the Turkish passers-by. On the contrary, the
Mussulman steps respectfully aside; for even he venerates the
Saviour as a great prophet, and the Virgin as his mother.

Not far from Pilate's house stands the building designated as that
of Herod; it is, however, a complete ruin. The house of the rich
man, at whose gate the beggar Lazarus lay, has shared the same fate;
but from the ruins one may conclude how magnificent the building
must originally have been.

In the house of Saint Veronica a stone is pointed out on which they
shew you a footprint of the Saviour. In another house two
footprints of the Virgin Mary are exhibited. Father Paul also drew
my attention to the houses which stood on the spot where Mary