The eighth station of the Via Dolorosa is located slightly off the route and is marked by a round stone embedded in the wall of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of Saint Charalambos. Historians suggest that this is most likely a fragment of a column whose end bears a cross and an inscription in Greek: «Jesus Christ – the Victor».
The Gospel says that at this place the Savior met weeping women and said to them: «Do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children...», thereby prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem. And indeed, 40 years later the Roman troops destroyed the Jewish Temple, and the city was practically razed to the ground…
