Italy holds state funeral for two-time former president Giorgio Napolitano.

Former Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, who died on Friday aged 98, will be buried in Rome's Non-Catholic Cemetery after a secular state funeral in the chamber of deputies on Tuesday.

The secluded graveyard in Rome's Testaccio district is home to the graves of Italian Communist party co-founder Antonio Gramsci as well as the English Romantic poets Keats and Shelley.

Also known as the Protestant Cemetery, the graveyard is located in the shadow of the Pyramid of Cestius and has been in continuous use for more than 300 years.

Napolitano, who served as head of state twice from 2006 until 2015, was the first former communist to rise to Italy's presidency.

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French president Emmanuel Macron and German president Frank Walter Steinmeier will be among the foreign leaders attending the funeral ceremony in the lower house, scheduled for 11.30.

Speakers at the funeral are set to include Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi and former Italian premiers Giuliano Amato and Paolo Gentiloni.

The ceremony, which is being broadcast live by RAI 1, will be the first time for a non-religious state funeral to be held inside Palazzo Montecitorio.

Tuesday has been declared an official day of mourning in Italy, with Italian and European Union flags on all public buildings flying at half mast.

For details about the Non-Catholic Cemetery see its website. Cover photo: Anthony Shaw Photography / Shutterstock.com.