Mikis Theodorakis lies in Athens cathedral chapel for final public farewell

Hundreds of people waited outside the chapel of the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral on Monday to pay their last respects to Greece’s great composer Mikis Theodorakis where he was to lie in state until Wednesday.

People gathered outside the church from Monday morning until the chapel opened to the public at 8pm that evening. The chapel will reopen to the public from 10am to 7pm on Tuesday and on Wednesday, from 10am until 4pm.

A farewell ceremony for the composer, who died aged 96 last Thursday, will be held at 3pm one Wednesday. The Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece, Dimitris, Koutsoubas, will speak.

Following the ceremony, Mr Theodorakis body will be placed on board a ship for the journey to Crete where he will be laid to rest at his home village of Galata near Chania.

The funeral is planned for 1pm on Thursday.