March 2016 – Jerusalem is home to a new museum within the walls of the old city, at the Monastery of the Flagellation
From the website of the Christian Media Centre
Since mid-March 2016, Jerusalem is home to a new museum within the walls of the old city, at the Monastery of the Flagellation. It is called “Terra Sancta Museum – Via Dolorosa” and is the multimedia section of an ambitious project which involves the construction by 2017 of two other areas: the archaeological and the historical one.
MANUELA PEGORARO | Project Manager Terra Sancta Museum – Via Dolorosa /ATS
“It was primarily built for the pilgrims who come here and want to find out what the Via Dolorosa is and where it is located, because it is inside the city market. Now, with this multimedia installation, a pilgrim , but also a regular visitor can figure out where it is located and where it all started, in 15 minutes.”
The project is sponsored by the Franciscan Custody in collaboration with various local and foreign partners, in order to focus attention on the Holy Land and on its artistic, religious and historical heritage, from the starting point of the Via Dolorosa, that is the Way of the Cross in Jerusalem.
Fr. EUGENIO ALLIATA, ofm | Director Archaeological Museum-Studium Biblicum Franciscanum
“We are in the old Antonia Tower, which was destroyed by the Romans during the Jewish War in 70 AD, and has not been rebuilt since then. The pilgrims have chosen the Antonia Fortress as the place of the Praetorian Guard for centuries. All pilgrims travel to this place where we are commemorating the condemnation of Jesus Christ, when Jesus began his journey to Calvary, carrying the cross”
GABRIELE ALLEVI | Museologist
“The extraordinary thing is just that the place that has the multimedia installation is also the place where archaeological finds came to light, so we set out in this exciting adventure in a place of great historical and archaeological value.”
GIOVANNI TORTELLI | Architect
“In this place, the pilgrim will recognize the path and the steps that made history through the signs which are those of the stones that are placed in the salient points of this space.
And everyone will understand how the history of this place and the city has evolved, through the fragments of various architectures from Herod to Adriano, up to that of the Crusaders.”
The experience that the Museum suggests is not reserved only for the pilgrims: while it offers the opportunity for them to identify themselves with the events of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus, on the other hand it offers an unprecedented artistic and historical perspective of the city, thanks to careful research and use of historical and literary sources.
GABRIELE ALLEVI | Museologist
“The places of Christian worship are places that rightfully belong to the identity of the city of Jerusalem. Today, these places are an integral part of any tourist or any resident’s identity, whatever their religion or their culture, so I think that visiting these places is important for a resident, a citizen or a tourist. Knowing their origin as well as their historical and cultural roots is also important.”
The visit, accessible in 8 different languages, lasts 15 minutes and is divided into three phases mixing the multimedia experience with that of an archaeological site.
CHARLOTTE TAMSCHICK | Creative director – Tamschick Media+Space
“It is a very special modality that is not the classic museum format: there is a combination of lights, sounds and projections that help visitors find a way to better understand the history and it is a very exciting story telling”.
