Tourists who have booked to visit Rome in the coming weeks will experience the city during a rare historical moment. Following the death of Pope Francis on 21 April, a series of religious rituals and procedures are being enacted that might impact travel plans.

Most of the funeral will be celebrated in Latin, and there will be incense and hymns and Gregorian chants. Attended by dozens of heads of state, monarchs and other dignitaries, it will be, in any case, a spectacle. And at the center of it all will be Francis’ simple coffin, on the esplanade of St. Peter’s Basilica.