The Vatican is currently preparing for a week that will culminate in the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict presided over by Pope Francis.
Privately, Benedict's body will be moved to St Peter's Basilica, where it will be on view to members of the public for three days from tomorrow.
Today at St Peter's Square, tourists who were in Rome for New Year celebrations, flocked to take selfies in front of a large wooden crib overshadowed by an extra-large Christmas tree.
With traffic building as the day wore on, Rome began to return to "business as usual" following the Christmas week.
Many of the city's citizens left to celebrate it in the mountains or at their holiday homes.
Read more: Pope hails 'beloved' Benedict during New Year's service
Some will return tomorrow for work and stay for a week, before leaving the city again to celebrate the Epiphany.
In my accommodation, Salvadore tells me: "It's just the way Christmas has fallen".
They left to celebrate Christmas for a week, they will return for a week and leave the city again next weekend to mark the end of Christmas.
Will any of them queue with others to see the Emeritus Pope at St Peter's Basilica?
Some will, yes.
Today, there were few signs of pilgrims flocking to St Peter's Square but given that Benedict's remains were still in situ in the Vatican, it was hardly surprising.
It's reported that city authorities are expecting around 30,000 people to pay their respects each day between Monday and Wednesday before Thursday's funeral mass.
Barricades have been erected but people walked freely between them in the winter sun this afternoon.
While the number of people expected to view the remains is far fewer than the million that filed past Pope John Paul II in 2005, this week will be different as has been pointed out since Benedict's death on New Year's Eve morning.
It is a balancing act for the Vatican - ensuring that he receives the respect he deserves in death as Emeritus Pope while equally respecting the current Pope.
Francis has done much of the work himself in publicly keeping the Pope Emeritus in his prayers.
Today, the Vatican released the first images of the late Benedict, showing him dressed in red and gold liturgical vestments and laying in state in the chapel of the monastery where he died.
From 9am tomorrow, his body will lie in state in St Peter’s Basilica which will remain open from 9am to 7pm.
On Tuesday and Wednesday it will be open from 7am to 7pm.
The funeral mass on Thursday will be attended by Archbishop Eamon Martin and Archbishop Dermot Farrell as President and Vice Presidents of the Bishop's Conference on behalf of the Irish Catholic Bishops.
