They poured in from all over the world: from Kosovo and Indonesia, to Norway and Australia.
Under dazzling sunshine and cloudless blue skies, tens of thousands of people streamed up the broad avenue that leads from the banks of the River Tiber to St Peter’s Basilica.
Some were devout Catholics, there to pay their respects. Others simply happened to be on holiday in Rome and were anxious to experience a historic moment – the death of a Pope.
And then there were those who were in deep shock at the news that Pope Francis had died at the age of 88, just when it appeared that he was getting stronger after bouts of bronchitis and double pneumonia.