In pictures: Pope Francis lies in state at St Peter’s Basilica

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Pope Francis's open coffin was transferred Wednesday to St Peter's Basilica for three days of lying in state, with thousands of people gathering to pay their respects to the leader of the world's Catholics.

The Pope, 88, died of a stroke on Easter Monday (April 21), ending his 12 years leading the Catholic Church.

Take a look at the pictures of Wednesday's solemn procession from the Santa Marta residence to the basilica:

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A prelate holds a picture of Pope Francis as he enters the atrium of St Peter’s Basilica before the arrival of the pope's coffin, where he would lie in state.

Vatican Swiss Guards march in the atrium of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican before the body of Pope Francis was to be carried inside.

Pallbearers, next to Swiss Guards, carry the coffin of the late Pope Francis as it is transported from the chapel of Santa Marta to St Peter's Basilica.

Pilgrims and tourists snapped photos, with some applauding as the procession passed on its way from the Santa Marta residence, where the 88-year-old Argentine pontiff died on Monday after a stroke.

Bells from the basilica rang out as the wooden coffin was carried in procession past packed crowds in St Peter's Square.

Red-robed cardinals and the Vatican's Swiss Guards accompanied the the late pope on his solemn journey to the basilica.

Here, pallbearers carry the coffin of the late Pope Francis into St Peter's Basilica

Francis's body had been held in the chapel of the Santa Marta, where he lived during his 12-year papacy.

Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Joseph Farrell swings a censer around the body of Pope Francis inside St Peter’s Basilica. The ate pontiff's coffin was placed before St Peter's Altar of the Confession, where Bernini's bronze baldacchino soars up towards Michelangelo's famous dome.

The coffin was placed on a low bier, unlike the higher, more ornate platforms of his predecessors.

Cardinals pay their respects to Pope Francis inside the grand basilica

Members of the clergy walk to Pope Francis' coffin to pay their respects

People line up to enter St Peter’s Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis.

Saturday's funeral is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims as well as world leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as Britain's Prince William.

Afterwards, Francis's coffin will be taken to his favourite church, Rome's papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where it will be interred in the ground and marked by a simple inscription: Franciscus.