The Via Francigena Credential and the Testimonium

Two documents frame the pilgrim's side of the Via Francigena. The credential is the one you carry from the first day; the Testimonium is the one you are given on the last. This guide explains what each is, where they come from, and — using the stage data behind the stage pages — exactly which stage you need to start on to qualify for the Testimonium.

Everything about how the Testimonium is issued is taken from St Peter's Basilica's own page; the practical notes on the credential are from the Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome, which issues one, and from this site's own accommodation guide. We have not reproduced anything we could not read on those pages.

What the credential is

The credential — credenziale in Italian, sometimes "pilgrim passport" — is a fold-out or booklet document with spaces for stamps. You have it stamped at each stop: the Confraternity lists churches, cathedrals, pilgrim hostels, hotels, restaurants and bars as places that stamp. The stamp is a tampon in France and a timbro in Italy; the culture pages on this site note where a timbro is available at particular sites, such as Siena's Santa Maria della Scala or the sacristy of Lucca cathedral.

It does two jobs. First, it is what pilgrim accommodation asks to see. This site's accommodation guide puts it plainly: most of the pilgrim hostels it lists require one, and it is the document that gets you into ostelli, convents and donativo houses rather than hotels. Second, it is the evidence for the Testimonium: the stamps are how the Basilica verifies you walked the distance.

Where to get it

Get it before you start. The accommodation guide's advice is to obtain it "from a confraternity or a church at your starting point". Concretely:

• The Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome (the UK association) issues a fold-out credential with space for eighty stamps and a booklet with space for a hundred and sixty-four, sold through its shop; it says the booklet is also available at the Canterbury Cathedral shop — kilometre zero of the route — and at Southwark Cathedral.
• The European Association of the Via Francigena (AEVF), the route's official body, issues the official credential; its website is an app-style page that we could not read as text, so we do not quote it here — check viefrancigene.org directly for its current issuing points.

Whichever you carry, one credential with enough pages for the whole trip is simpler than two. If you are walking a section, a fold-out is plenty; the Confraternity's are sized so that one covers the full Canterbury-to-Rome walk.

Stamping it

There is no published stamps-per-day rule for the Via Francigena Testimonium. St Peter's asks that the journey "be verifiable by the stamps placed on the pilgrim's credential"; the Confraternity adds that, unlike the Camino de Santiago, you do not need two stamps a day over the final 100 km. A stamp at each night's accommodation, plus whatever churches and tourist offices you pass, is the normal pattern and leaves no gaps a reception desk could question.

The Testimonium

The Testimonium — in full the Testimonium Peregrinationis ad Limina Petri — is, in the Basilica's words, "a certificate that Saint Peter's Basilica issues on request, as certification of the pilgrimage devotionis causa, to all those who have travelled at least 100 km on foot or 200 km by bicycle to Rome". The journey must be verifiable from the stamps in the credential.

How to collect it, from the Basilica's page:

1. Enter St Peter's Square and follow the Percorso Oranti ("Prayer Path"), a dedicated route for pilgrims that starts at the obelisk and is marked by a sign.
2. The document is issued by the staff at the Basilica's Reception desk, who also handle the cloakroom.
3. To reserve one in advance, the Basilica gives the Reception Point's email, accoglienza@fsp.va, and the switchboard, +39 06 6982.

The Confraternity's account of the current process matches: pilgrims are welcomed directly at the Basilica and can skip the general queue, present the credential at the reception point in the square, pass the police security check, and receive the Testimonium at the pilgrim reception inside the cloakroom. It lists the reception point's hours as every day from 7.30 am to 6.30 pm, except Wednesdays, 1 pm to 6.30 pm — check before you arrive, as hours can change and papal audiences affect access to the square.

The final stage page, Monte Mario to St Peter's Square, lists the Testimonium among the day's highlights. Arrive with the credential in your hand, not at the bottom of the pack.

The last 100 km, mapped onto the stages

The 100 km rule is where most questions come from: which town do I have to start from? The Confraternity records the folklore honestly — opinions differ between Acquapendente, Montefiascone (where the "100 km ad limina Petri" signs are) and Viterbo — and the Basilica page simply says 100 km. So here is the arithmetic from the stage data, counting the published distance of every stage back from St Peter's Square:

The 100 km point therefore falls on stage 77, Viterbo to Vetralla, about 3 km south of Viterbo. Viterbo is the last stage start that qualifies, with 15 km to spare. Two cautions:

• These are the published stage distances on this site. GPS tracks, detours to accommodation and the exact point you start from in a town all move the figure by a few kilometres, which is why Vetralla's 97 km should be treated as short, not "near enough".
• If you want a margin that no reception desk could question, start at Montefiascone (133 km, eight stages) or Bolsena (150 km, nine stages). Both have a stamp-worthy landmark on the way in — the Rocca dei Papi and the Basilica of Santa Cristina.

For a one-week trip that qualifies, Viterbo to Rome is seven stages of 18, 15, 12, 22, 24, 16 and 8 km — no day over 24 km, and every stage graded easy or moderate. Viterbo has rail access in the data. The stage-by-stage plan is in the Siena to Rome guide.

Cyclists

The threshold for cyclists is 200 km, by the same page and with the same proof. Counting back through the published stages, 200 km from St Peter's falls on stage 73, between Radicofani and Acquapendente — Radicofani (196 km) is just short, so cyclists should start at San Quirico d'Orcia (228 km) or earlier.

What the Testimonium is not

It is not a completion certificate for the route, and it does not care where you started; a walker from Canterbury and a walker from Viterbo receive the same document. It is a testimony of pilgrimage devotionis causa, issued by the Basilica. If you walked for other reasons, you can still ask for it; the request is yours to make. And it is the last stamp in the credential — the Confraternity notes that you get the final Vatican stamp at the same desk — so do not put the credential away before you have both.