Pavarotti's funeral today

Thousands of mourners filed past the open coffin of Luciano Pavarotti in the cathedral of his Italian hometown yesterday, in an emotional farewell to the singer whose death prompted tributes from around the world.

The doors of Modena's ancient cathedral opened at dawn to allow saddened fans a last look at one of the greatest tenors of his generation before his funeral today.

The imposing, bearded opera star, who died on Thursday of cancer at the age of 71, was dressed in a black tuxedo, hands folded on his stomach and holding a white handkerchief - a favourite prop during his recitals - and a rosary.

Wreaths of flowers stood at the head of the coffin.

Mourners included his second wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, who carried their four-year-old daughter Alice in her arms, and his first wife, Adua Veroni, with two of his three daughters from that marriage, who are all in their 40s.

"He brought to the world everything that is good about this town: simplicity, honesty and happiness," said Luigi Febbrano, a 51-year-old court clerk waiting outside the 12th-century church.

Condolences flooded in from around the world, with US President George W. Bush and Russia's Vladimir Putin joining opera singers Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras in praising the voice and the man.

"The world at your feet," read the headline in a local paper in Modena, the town where Luciano Pavarotti was born into a humble family - his father a baker, his mother a cigar factory worker - and which he never forgot despite his stardom.

Luciano Pavarotti spent his final days in his villa near Modena, where he also owned a restaurant and gave lessons for the local music school even in the final months of his illness.

A local music store said Pavarotti records were selling as fast as they could be stacked on the shelves.

"Sales are always good but since yesterday it has been crazy," said Giovanni Ricci, store manager. "The only thing that matters is that they have Pavarotti's name on them."

His gilded voice and huge personality touched millions around the world, and he achieved superstardom at the celebrated "Three Tenors" concert with Domingo and Carreras in Rome during the 1990 soccer World Cup in Italy.