Easter pilgrims flock to Holy City

Tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world set off in procession in Jerusalem's walled Old City on Friday to retrace the steps tradition says Jesus took to his crucifixion, remembered on this day.

The faithful, several of them carrying large wooden crosses, thronged the cobblestoned streets of the Via Dolorosa, or Way of Suffering, which Jesus is said to have walked, dragging the cross on which he was later crucified by the Romans.

The route starts outside the Monastery of Flagellation, where Jesus was beaten, mocked and crowned with thorns. It concludes at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built over the sites where many Christians believe Christ was both crucified and buried.

The Christian Gospels teach that on the third day after he was crucified, he rose from the dead. That event is commemorated by Easter, the most important day of the church year to most Christians.