Meaning of CALVARY

Latin name of the place where Jesus was crucified (Lk. 23:33), not far from the walls of Jerusalem, but outside the city precincts (Jn. 19:17, 20; Mt. 27:33; Mr. 15: 22; Heb. 13:12).

In the same place there was a private garden and a tomb in which the body of Jesus Christ lay until his resurrection (John 19:41, 42).

The expression "Mount Calvary" has no compelling reason to support it, other than what is implied in the name Golgotha, which could well have been given to a slight elevation in the shape of the top of a skull, and the probability that such a place has been chosen for the crucifixion.

It is very doubtful that the true locations of Calvary and the tomb are those covered by the present "Church of the Holy Sepulchre", which is a vast building north of Mount Zion, within the modern city, built on the site that was fixed in the year 335 AD. by the Empress Elena, following tradition in this and attending to an alleged miracle.

The location of Calvary that seems to best correspond to the description in the biblical texts is that of the so-called "Gordon Calvary", after the archaeologist who discovered it in the middle of the last century.

The vast majority of Protestant scholars adhere to this geographical location, since it clarifies the biblical texts, and also due to the fact that the basilica that Constantine's mother built was built on the ruins of a pagan temple.