Lions' Gate in the context of Church of the Flagellation

The Muslim Quarter (Arabic: حارة المسلمين, romanized: Ḥāraṫ al-Muslimīn; Hebrew: הרובע המוסלמי, romanized: Ha-Rovah ha-Muslemi) is one of the four sectors of the ancient, walled Old City of Jerusalem. It covers 31 hectares (77 acres) of the northeastern sector of the Old City. The quarter is the largest and most populous of the four quarters and extends from the Lions' Gate in the east, along the northern wall of the Temple Mount in the south, to the Damascus Gate—Western Wall route in the west. The Via Dolorosa starts in this quarter, a path Jesus had to take when he was forced by Roman soldiers, on his way to his crucifixion.The population of the Muslim Quarter was reported in 2012 as 22,000.

The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows, the Via Crucis or the Via Dolorosa, are any series of fourteen images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion and accompanying prayers, These stations are derived from the imitations of the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem which is a traditional processional route symbolizing the path Jesus walked from Lions' Gate to Mount Calvary. The objective of the stations is to help the Christian faithful to make a spiritual pilgrimage through contemplation of the Passion of Christ. It has become one of the most popular devotions and the stations can be found in many Western Christian churches, including those in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist traditions.

Commonly, a series of 14 images will be arranged in numbered order along a path, along which worshippers—individually or in a procession—move in order, stopping at each station to say prayers and engage in reflections associated with that station. These devotions are most common during Lent, especially on Good Friday, and reflect a spirit of reparation for the sufferings and insults that Jesus endured during his passion. As a physical devotion involving standing, kneeling and genuflections, the Stations of the Cross are tied with the Christian themes of repentance and mortification of the flesh.