VATICAN CITY, Holy See (AFP) — Some 250,000 people paid respects to Pope Francis during the three days his coffin lay in St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said Friday, as public viewing ended and world leaders began gathering for his funeral.

French President Emmanuel Macron was among the last to bow before the coffin, with the overall crowds exceeding the estimated 195,000 who came to see Francis’s predecessor Benedict XVI after his death in 2022.

“What a great man! He loved everyone, every religion,” said 53-year-old Italian Igho Felici after viewing Francis’s open coffin, adding: “I had to be here.”

Throughout the day, vast crowds of people packed the wide avenue leading to the basilica, pilgrims and tourists mingling with Italians enjoying a public holiday.

Francis’s body — wearing a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes, with a rosary laced around his fingers — was closed in his wooden coffin in a private ceremony late Friday.

As per tradition, a white silk veil was placed on his face and a bag with coins and medals minted during his 12-year pontificate was placed in the coffin.

St Peter’s Square was to reopen at 5:30 am (0330 GMT) on Saturday, amid strict security, to start letting in about 200,000 people expected to pack the plaza.

US President Donald Trump is among 50 heads of state and more than a dozen royals expected to attend.

He arrived in Rome late Friday, making his first foreign trip since returning to power.

Trump and First Lady Melania Trump touched down at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci airport, said an AFP reporter travelling with the president on Air Force One.

Italian and Vatican authorities have placed the area around St Peter’s under tight security with drones blocked, snipers on roofs and fighter jets on standby.

Further checkpoints will be activated on Friday night, police said.

The Catholic Church’s first Latin American pope died on Monday aged 88, less than a month after his release from hospital where he spent weeks fighting severe pneumonia.

“It was like saying goodbye to a father” who “loved me and will continue to love me as and more than before,” said Filipa Castronovo, 76, an Italian nun.

The pontiff, who had long suffered failing health, defied doctors’ orders by making a public appearance on Easter Sunday, the most important moment in the Catholic calendar.

It was his last public appearance.

Condolences have flooded in from around the world for the Jesuit, an energetic reformer who championed those on the fringes of society as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

He used his last speech to rail against those who stir up “contempt… towards the vulnerable, the marginalised, and migrants”. “It’s impressive to see all these people,” French cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo said of the queueing crowds, describing Francis as “a man of the people”.

“It’s a beautiful response, a beautiful embrace of his ministry, of his pontificate,” he added.

The Vatican has said more than 130 foreign delegations are confirmed for the funeral, including Argentina’s President Javier Milei and Britain’s Prince William, many of whom began arriving early on Friday morning.

The presence of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky was in doubt after he said he may miss the funeral due to important “military meetings” following a deadly Russian strike on Kyiv.

On Thursday the Vatican banned people from taking photos inside the basilica, a move that eased the queue. It came after some mourners took selfies with the coffin.

After the funeral, Francis’s coffin will be driven at a walking pace for burial at his favourite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

The hearse will pass down Rome’s Fori Imperiali — where the city’s ancient temples lie — and past the Colosseum, according to officials.

Big screens will be set up along the route on which to watch the ceremony, according to Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who estimated the crowds at around 200,000.

Francis was a champion of the underdog, and a group of “poor and needy” will be at Santa Maria Maggiore to welcome the coffin, the Vatican said.

Francis will be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus.

People will be able to visit the tomb from Sunday morning, as all eyes turn to the process of choosing Francis’s successor.