Stations of the Cross

Stations of the Cross refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and also to the prayers Christians say when contemplating those images. Often a series of 14 images will be arranged in numbered order around a church nave or along a path, and the faithful travel from image to image, in order, stopping at each "station" (Latin: statio) to say the selected prayers and reflections. This will be done individually or in groups. Occasionally the faithful might say the Stations of the Cross without there being any image, such as when the Pope leads the Stations of the Cross around the Colosseum in Rome on Good Friday. This practice is common in Roman Catholic, as well as in a number of Anglican, Lutheran and Methodist churches.

The style and form of the stations can vary widely and often reflect the artistic sensibility and spirituality of the time, place and culture of their creation. The stations can consist of small plaques with reliefs or paintings, or of simple crosses with a numeral in the centre.

Via Crucis to the Cruz del Campo

The Via Crucis to the Cruz del Campo (Spanish: Vía Crucis a la Cruz del Campo) in Seville, Andalusia, Spain is believed to be Spain's only Via Crucis that runs through the streets of a city. (The term Via Crucis is of Latin origin; it is used in Spanish, although Spanish orthography places an accent mark on the i, hence Vía Crucis; in English, literally "Way of the Cross", but "Stations of the Cross" is also common.) It is the basis of the famous traditions of Holy Week in Seville. Since the Via Crucis was first laid out in 1521, both the starting and ending points have changed, as has the number of stations.

History

The tradition of the Via Crucis in Spain began with the Dominican Friar Álvaro of Córdoba in 1421, but was popularized mainly by Franciscans. It is a local recreation of what is now called the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, by then an established feature of a pilgrimage there, though various routes have been used.

With reference to the Via Crucis in Seville, and especially with reference to the Templete (see below) for events of the 15th and 16th century, a great deal of historical caution is in order. Evidence is incomplete and sometimes contradictory. It is difficult to be confident of the continuity between entities with the same name mentioned centuries apart. The difficulties are compounded by the tendency of most sources to give only one version of events, even when the facts are in doubt.