This convent is named for the Ecce Homo arch that crosses the Via Dolorosa outside. The arch (part of which has been enveloped by the wall of the convent) was at one time thought to be the gate of Herod’s Antonia Fortress and therefore believed to be the spot that Pontius Pilate took Jesus out and proclaimed ‘Ecce Homo’ (Behold, the man!). Researchers now dispute this as the arch is now considered to be a 2nd-century triumphal arch built by the Roman emperor Hadrian.
