Thousands bid farewell to Camilleri at Rome's Non-Catholic Cemetery.

Rome mayor Virginia Raggi said that the city is considering honorary citizenship for Andrea Camilleri, the acclaimed Sicilian author who died in the capital on 17 July.

Raggi was speaking to reporters as she left the Cimitero Acattolico, or Non-Catholic Cemetery, several hours after Camilleri's burial there on the morning of 18 July.

Hailing Camilleri as an "exceptional person", Raggi said it was an honour that he had chosen Rome as his final resting place, adding: "We know that everyone will pass by here to pay him homage."

Thousands of fans showed up at the graveyard to pay their respects to Camilleri, who was buried in a private ceremony attended by his wife, three daughters and close family and friends.

Best known as the author of the Inspector Montalbano detective series of novels, Camilleri died in Rome's S. Spirito hospital where he had been since suffering a cardiac arrest on 17 June.

Located beside the Pyramid of Cestius in the Testaccio district, the cemetery hosts a great many artists and writers, chief of all Keats and Shelley.

Camilleri was buried under the statue of the Angel of the Resurrection, in Zone 3, in the shadow of a large pine tree, not far from the grave of Antonio Gramsci, the intellectual, politican and founding member of the Italian Communist Party.

The cemetery's director Amanda Thursfield told local media: "The Maestro was attached to this place, he visited it many times."

The cemetery can be visited Mon-Sat 09.00-17.00 (last entry 16.30) and Sunday/public holidays 09.00-13.00 (last entry 12.30).

Photo Huffington Post