It may have been originally a place of public executions where the skulls of the executed could be seen; or, perhaps the name may have been derived from a neighboring cemetery, or may have been really connected with the shape of the ground, a hill which may have resembled a skull. According to tradition, Golgotha was the burial place of Adam's skull.<ref>Rev. Dr. Nicon D. Patrinacos (M.A., D.Phil. (Oxon)). ''A Dictionary of Greek Orthodoxy - Λεξικον Ελληνικης Ορθοδοξιας''. Light & Life Publishing, Minnesota, 1984. pp.181</ref>