Jerusalem - Church of the Sisters of Zion

The Church of the Sisters of Zion (Basilique des Dames de Sion) in Jerusalem contains an explanatory model of the Antonia Fortress. A side arch of the Roman triumphal arch is built into the choir, producing a striking effect. Particularly impressive is a passage in the basement which runs past a large Herodian cistern into the crypt. Here we are on the original ground level: the floor of the crypt is the paving of a court in the Antonia Fortress, the pavement (lithostrotos) referred to in John 19,13. In the pavement are scratches made by Roman soldiers, including a kind of board game. It seems certain that on this pavement Christ stood before Pilate, was condemned, mocked and crowned with the crown of thorns (unless those scholars are right who believe that Pilate resided not in the Antonia Fortress but in the Citadel).