Calvary

The place where Jesus was crucified. The name comes from a Latin word, calvaria, meaning “skull.” In Aramaic, it is called Golgotha. It may have been called that because it was a place where criminals were executed and skulls were found there, or because the hill itself looked like a skull. The exact location of Calvary is unknown. Two places have been suggested: where the Church of the Holy Sepulchre now stands in Jerusalem; the other is a hill known as Gordon’s Calvary. On Gordon’s Calvary there are holes in the rocky side of the hill that resemble the eyes and nose of a skull.