Mourners view Pavarotti in Italy
Throngs of mourners Friday filed through the cathedral in Modena, Italy, for a last glimpse of Luciano Pavarotti in an outpouring of love for the tenor celebrated as the greatest Italian voice of his generation.
President Giorgio Napolitano joined the crowds viewing Pavarotti’s open white coffin -- as many as 2,000 an hour -- to bid farewell to the city’s most famous son on the eve of his funeral.
More than 20,000 people had paid their respects since Thursday evening, when the public was allowed in just hours after the tenor’s death at age 71 from pancreatic cancer.
The coffin was surrounded by flowers, and he was dressed in a black tuxedo with a white tie and shirt -- his hands holding the trademark white handkerchief and a rosary.
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