Bethlehem Olive Wood Cross Handcrafted with 14 Stations Design

About This Cross

Pick this up and you'll see the detail before you even look for it. All 14 stations of the cross, cut by hand into the surface of genuine olive wood from the Holy Land. Not printed. Not stamped. Carved in by someone who's been doing this their whole life.

We carry this as a wooden cross for sale in four sizes, 13cm up to 27cm. Whether you're hanging it on a wall or giving it as a cross gift, you can pick the right scale for the space. The honey tones shift depending on the grain, and no two pieces come out identical. That's just how olive wood works.

If you're looking for crosses hand carved with real meaning behind them, this is one of those. It's not decorative in a generic sense. The stations are all there, every one of them, and someone spent real time putting them there.

Features & Details

• ✓ Genuine Holy Land olive wood, hand-carved in Bethlehem
• ✓ All 14 stations of the cross carved into the surface
• ✓ Four sizes: 13cm, 17cm, 22cm, 27cm
• ✓ Each piece has its own grain pattern, no two are identical
• ✓ Made by Christian artisan families, 3rd generation carvers
• ✓ Works as a wall cross or a cross gift for any occasion
• ✓ Orthodox cross style, suits orthodox catholic cross traditions

Product Specifications

Perfect As a Gift

A pastor in Ohio ordered several of the 22cm size to give out after an Easter service last year. He wrote to tell me that a few of his congregation had never owned a cross from the Holy Land before. That kind of thing sticks with you.

This works for just about any occasion. It's a natural crosses gift idea for someone who's hard to shop for, and free US shipping over $50 makes it easy to order a few at once.

Ships worldwide, so if you need to send one overseas, that's not a problem either.

The Story Behind It

Most crosses you find online are factory-made somewhere far from where the design originated. These come from Christian artisan families who live a short drive from Manger Square in Bethlehem, the same families we've worked with for two generations.

The olive wood itself comes from annual pruning of living trees. Nobody's cutting anything down. The wood gets harvested, dried, and passed to the carvers, and the carvers turn it into something like this. That whole chain happens locally, and your order keeps it going.

What gets me about this particular piece is the patience it takes. Carving all 14 stations of the cross into a surface this size, by hand, at that level of detail, that's not a quick job. The christianity and the cross tradition these families are working within goes back centuries in this region. You can feel that in the piece, at least I can.

Care Instructions

Olive wood's low maintenance. If it starts looking dry, rub a small drop of olive oil into it with a cloth and it'll come right back. Don't soak it in water. That's about it.