Tourists to Vatican are being shut out of the Sistine Chapel for the foreseeable future after the death of Pope Francis, which changed Rome’s most iconic site.

Tourists who have booked to visit Rome in the coming weeks will experience the city during a rare historical moment. Following the death of Pope Francis on 21 April, a series of religious rituals and procedures are being enacted that might impact travel plans.

Francis opted for burial in Santa Maria Maggiore, located in Rome's most multi-cultural neighbouhood. No pope has been laid to rest outside the Vatican in more than a century.