On Thursday night hundreds of fans and admirers gathered in Luciano Pavarotti's hometown of Modena, in northern Italy, to mourn the celebrated tenor.
He died at home early yesterday morning after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 71.
On the central square in Modena, people gathered for the first evening of public viewing. His funeral will take place on Saturday.
The crowd applauded as pallbearers carried a white casket containing Pavarotti's body into the cathedral. His wife and family members were in attendance
"Thanks to Luciano Pavarotti, the name of Modena has gone around the world as the name of a city much bigger than it actually is," mayor Giorgio Pighi told the Associated Press news agency.
Large television screens are to be set up near the cathedral and news agencies from around the world will be in Modena to record the funeral, which will be attended by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
According to reports, tenor Andrea Bocelli will sing the hymn 'Panis angelicus' at the service.
U2's Bono paid tribute to Pavarotti, saying he was "a great volcano of a man who sang fire but spilled over with a love of life in all its complexity."
"No one could inhabit those acrobatic melodies and words like him. He lived the songs, his opera was a great mash of joy and sadness; surreal and earthy at the same time," he added.
"Even when the voice was dimmed in power, his interpretative skills left him a giant among a few tall men."
To read a full biography of Pavarotti, click here.
Paddy Kehoe of the RTÉ Guide talked to the tenor in 2003. Click here to read the interview.
