{N}MOUNT ZION{/}

{C}For the Lord has chosen Zion,
he has desired it for his dwelling{/} [Ps_132,13].
In the beginning Zion was none other than the{N} Ofel{/} a promontory situated between the valley of the Kidron and the valley of {N}Tiropeon{/}, above which Jerusalem towers. It is the city that David overpowered in order to convert it into his capital. Only after the second century of our era will the texts attribute the name of Zion to the very vast and highest hill that rises to the west of the {N}Tiropeon{/}. By extending Jerusalem to the west of the Tiropeon valley, the ambiguity is produced with the word "Zion", with which many of the prophetic texts and the psalms designated the old city of David, also called {N}Ofel{/}. The confusion and the forgetfulness of the time in which the development of the city towards the west is produced, were the origin of some new localizations: that was what occurred with respect to David's tomb.

{K}DAVID'S TOMB{/}
David rested with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. This text from the first book of Kings [2K_2,10] leaves no doubt, David was buried over the Ofel and not on the western hill. However, at the time of the crusades, among the Muslims the belief was spread according to which the western hillside held the tomb of David, worshipped by Islam as one of the prophets, "servant of Allah, endowed with power, a man of forgiveness, sent by God to earth (Koran 38,17 and 26). With the passage of time the erroneous placement of the tomb on the western hill ended up by imposing itself.

{K}THE CENACLE{/}
The new budding Church situated on this hill the place of the {N}Cenacle{/} where Jesus instituted the Eucharist. Also in this place, the {N}risen{/} Jesus revealed himself to his disciples. And in this same place the "Sign" of Pentecost occurred; finally it was here where the first Church gathered. Besides, according to christian tradition, Mary, the mother of Jesus would have established her home on Mount Zion after the passage of her son from this world to the Father. And in the same place she would have rested before sharing, by her Assumption, in the resurrection of the Lord.
All of this seems to indicate that one of the first churches in the Holy Land, even more, possibly the first of all the churches, had been established in this place. The destruction produced by the two attacks which culminated with the fall of Jerusalem (in 70 and 135 A.D.), left the area in such a state that it must have been very difficult to find the exact situation of the house and room on the upper floor, where the events told in the New Testament took place. For this reason, surely, it was necessary to accept an approximate location.
Saint Epiphany informs us that in the year 135, when the emperor Adrian took over Jerusalem, "the Christians still possessed the small church in the place of the Cenacle where the apostles gathered together after the ascension of the Savior."
One could think that the first memory linked to this place would be the institution of the Eucharist. However, it was the miracle of Pentecost that was venerated there from the beginning, while the celebration of the Last Supper was celebrated in Gethsemane. But since the term {C}Cenacle{/} comes from a latin word that means "eating room" or room destined to supper, from very early times, the tradition saw in this room the place chosen by Jesus to have his last supper, the Supper, with the small community of the Twelve; the ritual supper which is rooted in the ancient Passover and the memorial of his death and resurrection.

{K}CAIAPHAS' HOUSE{/}
Where should one look for the house of Caiaphas? And the house of Annas? Here there are two questions, which are practically impossible to respond to with certainty, keeping in mind the actual state of our knowledge. If the place where the church of "Saint Peter" in Galicanto is found, which is on the hillside, has been considered as authentic during a time, it is likewise necessary to admit that the place does not correspond in any way to what the ancient texts say: Eusebius of Caesarea situates the house of Caiaphas at the top of Mount Zion. 
It is for this reason that the localization proposed by another tradition, between the Cenacle and the gate of Zion, must be more exact: precisely there remains of rich rooms from the herodian epoch have been found. In one of these rooms, it may be, they had gathered, around Caiaphas - the high priest that year - and his father in law Annas, with the members of the Sanhedrin who decided on the death of Jesus: {C}Then the chief priests and the Jewish authorities gathered together at the palace of the High Priest whose name was Caiaphas, and they agreed to trap Jesus and kill him {/}.


{K}- THE FORTRESS OF HEROD - THE PRETORIUM{/}
The citadel of Jerusalem, to the south of the gate of Jaffa, has been the object of important archeological excavations. This citadel was in its time the Pretorium of Pilate; there is where Jesus was condemned and from there he left to go towards Calvary.

{K}HEROD'S PALACE{/}
In a first time, Herod the Great ordered the building of the fortress Antonia to the northeast of the Temple. This had as its function to protect the accesses to the Temple. A wall, that Flavius Josephus called the "second wall", connected the Antonia on the western hillside with the actual fortress. In this strategic location, Herod had a second fortress erected, incorporating into the construction the fortifications that were found there. There is where he built three massive towers, which he called Fasael, Marianme, and Hipico, in honor of his brother, his favorite wife and his beloved best friend.
What we do know about the splendors of the palace of Herod - adjoining the fortress - we know only through the admiring descriptions of Flavius Josephus; it seems, it had taken on the aspect of a stronghold main square, protected by the three towers and by powerful walls. Herod lived, in effect, in constant distrust in front of his subjects, and the roman procurators, later, will adopt, with all rights, the same attitude.
After Augustus destituted Archelaus, Herod's son, the roman procurators appropriated the palace. They made it into their residence for when they went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem: from then on the old palace of Herod received the name of pretorium, as the gospels confirm as well as the profane texts from the epoch. Here Jesus will be led by the high priests to be condemned by Pilate.

{K}JESUS BEFORE PILATE{/}
Then they led Jesus from the house of Caiaphas to the court of the Roman governor. It was now morning. The Jews did not enter lest they be made unclean by coming into the house of a pagan and be unable to eat the Passover meal. So Pilate went out and asked, "What charge do you bring against this man?"  They answered, "If he were not a criminal, we would not be handing him over to you." Pilate said, "Take him yourselves and judge him according to your own law." But they replied, "We ourselves are not allowed to put anyone to death." It was clear from this what kind of death Jesus was to die, according to what Jesus himself had foretold [Jn_18,28] - [Jn_18,32].
Just to the south of the octagonal tower of the fortress, a group of walls are conserved crudely coupled together. This structure in the shape of a honeycomb, had as a function to contain the material of the embankment constructed in order to elevate the level of the interior patio, and on top of this the pavement rested. Therefore, here we can localize with sufficient certainty the scenes of the mockery and jeering that developed in the pretorium during the process of Jesus before Pilate.
Close to forty years after Pilate condemned Jesus, Titus, who had just triumphed over Jerusalem, began the dismantling of the walls and of the fortress.
