Yesterday Poland said goodbye to President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria. International leaders, including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and about 150 thousand people from allover the country met in Krakow to attend the funeral ceremony. The ceremony began at St Mary's Basilica on the market square in Krakow's Old Town with the service led by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Archbishop of Krakow.
After the holy mass the funeral procession started its way up the Wawel hill along old kings' road.  People shouted “ Thank you, Lech Kaczynski!”, waved Polish flags decorated with a shroud and threw flowers on  gun-carriages with the flag-draped coffins.
At Wawel hill coffins were laid to rest in the royal crypt of Wawel cathedral, the burial site of Polish kings and statesmen since the 14th century.
People in a long, quiet and nostalgic queue stood after the ceremonies at the Wawel hill to enter  the royal crypt and to  pay last homage to President Lech Kaczynski and Maria Kaczynska.
Text & photos by  www.topofpoland.com