Public pays respects to late PM
Former conservative prime minister Constantine Mitsotakis laid in repose Wednesday for the public to pay its respects at the Athens Metropolitan Cathedral ahead of a funeral service at 3 p.m.
The mourners – among them the country's 76-year-old former king, Constantine – filed the the flag-draped coffin and expressed their condolences to the family.
Mitsotakis, who died Monday aged 98, will be buried on Thursday in his hometown of Hania on the island of Crete.
Greece's left-led government has declared four days of official mourning.
The late prime minister had requested before his death that instead of wreaths and flowers, mourners should make a donation to environmental groups that plant trees on Crete’s Lefka Ori mountains.
The family has requested that it be allowed to cover all funeral expenses instead of the state.
