Pallade Veneta - Up at dawn for front-row seat to history at Francis's funeral

As the first rays of the day rose over the sprawling Baroque plaza, mourners rushed towards empty chairs once they had passed through metal detectors, anxious for a front-row seat to history.

Among them was Jean-Baptiste Leclezio, a 22-year-old from Lyon, who slept on the ground overnight at the seat of the Catholic Church to be among the first to enter for the funeral of Francis, who died on Monday age 88.

"We took floor mats and sleeping bags and we slept there with 400 people, a lot of young people, scouts," he told AFP.

"There were people singing all night but we managed to sleep," he said.

Australian Eloise Bird, 38, said she was tired but happy to have made it into the square after having queued up since 5:15 am with her four children.

Determined to make the most of a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity" she said it had been "very hard getting in here".

"There was so much pushing. The little children were just getting squished from every side," she said.

"We know that it's not the end for him, God willing, he's going to heaven and he will live for eternity there," she said of the Argentine pontiff.

Peruvian social worker Gabriela Lazo, 41, said she and her family had arrived on Friday in Rome and "spent the whole night here in the car".

"Being at the funeral with my family and being able to hear the mass is the most beautiful thing," she said.

"We would have liked to see him in person... but thank God and him that we are here at this moment."

- 'He brought people together' -

Many in the crowd were young pilgrims with flags and banners draped over their shoulders, as priests in ceremonial robes milled about under the majestic colonnades of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's famed square.

Individual mourners leaned against pillars, fingering rosaries and silently reciting prayers, as television crews and cameras filled terraces overlooking the square.

Security personnel admonished people for running as they rushed towards open seats, all of which were filled within an hour of the square opening at 6:00 am (0400 GMT).

Andrea Ugalde, a childcare worker from Los Angeles, said she wasted no time in buying a ticket for Rome after hearing of Francis's passing, coming "straight to the cathedral" when she arrived.

"I hope to get a seat, but (I) just want to be a part of it," said the 39-year-old.

"He brought many people together, advocated for the sick, the homeless, poor, animals, for everything," said Ugalde.

The Argentine pope, she added, was the "definition of being human."

F.Amato--PV