Archaeological excavations confirm that the area beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was indeed outside the city walls of Jerusalem in the 1st century CE.

Extensive archaeological work conducted in and around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, particularly since the 1970s, has uncovered crucial evidence regarding ancient Jerusalem's topography. These excavations have revealed the remains of a 1st-century quarry and a section of what is known as the 'Second Wall' of Jerusalem, which dates to the Hasmonean period (2nd-1st century BCE) and was still in use during Jesus' time. Crucially, the site of the Church lies just outside the line of this Second Wall, aligning perfectly with the biblical description of Golgotha being 'outside the city gate' and in an area that would have been used for quarries and burials, consistent with Roman execution sites.