Picture of
Calvary - Golgotha
The Place of the Skull

"And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the PLACE OF A SKULL, which is called in Hebrew, GOLGOTHA, where they crucified Him . . ." (John 19:17-18, NKJV throughout)

"There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death.  And when they had come to the place called CALVARY, there they crucified Him . . ." (Luke 23:32-33)

    The picture above of a rocky outcrop, located north of Jerusalem's old city walls, is referred to as the "place of the skull" due its resemblance to a human skull (sunken eyes, nose - see middle of picture). This escarpment, roughly 100 yards (91.4 meters) east of the Garden Tomb, is believed by some to be where Jesus and two criminals were crucified in the first century A.D. by the Roman Empire. The location where Jesus died for the sins of the world is also referred to as Golgotha and Calvary in the scriptures. In some religious traditions the name Golgotha refers to the location of the skull of Adam.

    Golgotha is referred to in early writings as being a hill looking like the skull very near a gate into the city of Jerusalem. Since 333 A.D. Calvary has been referred to as a small hill and since the 6th century A.D. as the location of a mountain. The place of the skull, however, is not the traditional location of where Jesus died.

    The traditional location of Golgotha, established by Catholics, derives from its identification by Helena, the mother of Constantine I, in 325. Helena also identified what she thought was the location of the tomb of Jesus and claimed to have discovered the true cross. Constantine built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre around the whole site his mother said was where Jesus died.

    Prior to Helena's claim she had found Golgotha the site was used for a temple to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty and sensual pleasure.