Sacred Steps: Road to Rome

Every step you take carries you closer to Rome. Sacred Steps: Road to Rome turns your real daily walking into a virtual pilgrimage along the Via Francigena, the ancient road from Canterbury Cathedral to St Peter's in Rome. Your steps are counted automatically through Apple Health, so there is nothing to log and nothing to remember. Walk your own streets; cross a continent. THE WHOLE ROAD, STAGE BY STAGE 1,368 miles (2,202 km) in 71 stages, measured from real route data: through Kent to the Channel, across the plains of Artois and Champagne, through the Jura into Switzerland, over the Great St Bernard Pass, down through Aosta and the rice fields of the Po valley, over the Apennines at the Cisa Pass, and on through Tuscany and Lazio to Rome. Follow your progress on a map of the real route, in kilometers or miles. A GUIDE FROM THE YEAR 990 Sigeric, the Archbishop of Canterbury whose record of his journey home from Rome in 990 is the oldest account of this road, walks with you, with a word at the start, the middle and the end of every stage. A ROAD WITH A VOICE Each stage brings the country you are crossing to life: its history, its cathedrals and abbeys, its landscape and wildlife. Along the way you meet seventy people of the road, each speaking in their own words: a canon of the hospice on the Great St Bernard Pass, a Champagne grower, a warden of Siena's medieval pilgrim hospital and, at journey's end, the canon of St Peter's who grants your Testimonium. YOUR PILGRIM CREDENTIAL Collect a stamp in your pilgrim credential at all 71 towns, as walkers on the real road do before presenting it in Rome. Earn more than 50 patches for distance, streaks and the great landmarks of the way: the cathedral of Reims, the Great St Bernard Pass, the Cisa Pass, the walls of Lucca and the Piazza del Campo in Siena. STORIES OF THE ROAD Unlock 285 short stories as you walk, drawn from history, culture, nature and the land itself, along with the nine chapters of the Pilgrim's Notebook and a new piece of pilgrim wisdom every day. WALK WITH OTHERS Create a private group with friends or family, follow everyone's progress on a shared leaderboard, set goals together, and send encouragement when someone needs it. ON YOUR WRIST AND HOME SCREEN An Apple Watch app, Home Screen widgets and a Live Activity keep your progress, your next town and your daily steps in view. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Your steps are read from Apple Health and stay on your device. They are never sold and never used for advertising. If you join a walking group, only your display name, avatar and walking progress are shared with that group, through Apple's iCloud. Fully translated into English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese. Buon cammino.