About 100,000 Poles turned out for Sunday's state funeral for President Lech Kaczynski and his wife Maria in the southern city of Krakow. The ceremonies ended a week of mourning for 96 people killed in a plane crash a week ago.

A final day of memorial services for President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, an elaborate holy mass as St. Mary's Basilica in central Krakow.

The church filled with family and friends along with government officials, foreign leaders and delegations. The president and first lady were among 96 people who died when their plane crashed near the Russian town of Smolensk.

They were on their way to a memorial service honoring 22,000 Polish military officers killed by Soviet troops in 1940 in the Katyn forest in western Russia.

Katyn remains a defining moment in Polish history and has severely troubled relations between Russia and Poland. At the funeral, Speaker of the Polish Parliament and Acting President Bronislav Komorowski said he hoped the tragedy of the plane crash may help bring the two nations together.

He said there have been many signs of warmth and understanding from the Russian people and words and gestures from Russia's leaders. These are greatly appreciated, he said.

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev was among the foreign leaders attending the funeral. Before leaving Krakow, he too said he hoped the tragedy might bring about a rapprochement.

Many other leaders had planned to attend the funeral, but were forced to cancel due to hazardous flying conditions above much of Europe, caused by a cloud of volcanic ash in the high atmosphere. U.S. President Barrack Obama was among those unable to attend.

After the funeral mass, the coffins of President Kaczynski and his wife were taken through the town and up the hill to Wawel Cathedral, where they were laid to rest.

Crowds lined the streets, tossing flowers and waving Polish flags, the Cathedral's historic bell tolling a final farewell.

Poland is preparing to bury President Lech Kaczynski, his wife Maria, and 94 other prominent military officials and civilians killed in a plane crash last Saturday in western Russia. But, some people object to the burial site chosen for the late president.

Poland is in mourning. In Warsaw, preparations are underway for a memorial service on Saturday for all those killed in the crash.

A state funeral is planned Sunday for President Lech Kaczynski and the first lady. A number of world leaders are expected to attend, including U.S. President Barack Obama and the leaders of Russia, France and Germany.

But the location of the burial that is stirring controversy. Wawel Cathedral in the southern city, Krakow, is the traditional burial site of Polish kings and national heroes. Some Poles say, although they mourn the death of President Kaczynski, they do not believe he falls into that category.

Hundreds of people have demonstrated in Krakow to make that point. In Warsaw, a smaller crowd of several dozen mostly young people gathered late Wednesday with a similar message.

Speaking with VOA, protest organizer Martina Schultz explained why she posted an Internet petition against the burial.

She says we think President Kaczynski should be buried in Warsaw not at Wawel. I am not talking about his achievements, she says, I am not trying to diminish them, I tried to write the petition so as not to hurt anyone's feelings."

Shultz says she believes the decision to bury President Kaczynski at Wawel was taken in haste and under emotional stress and not considered properly.

She says 10,000 people have signed the petition and another 35,000 have signed it on Facebook. And, she says the protests would continue.

Polish officials say the burial site was chosen by leaders of the Catholic Church and the Kaczynski family, which include the late president's twin brother Jaroslaw, the leader of Poland's opposition.

Magdalena, 18, says she came to the protest meeting to express her feelings, even though she believes it is too late to change burial plans.

At one point she says "I may be young, but I know what I think and can say it." She says she believes people's emotions of grief are being manipulated.

Those sentiments are not likely to hold sway with the many thousands who have lined up in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw to file past the coffins of the president and first lady lying in state inside.

Krzysztof is with a delegation of coal miners, who have come from near the city of Katowice in southern Poland.

He recalls that President Kaczynski came to the mining area on several occasions, he respected the president and he says it would be inappropriate not to be here to pay tribute.

A row has broken out over the decision to bury Polish President Lech Kaczynski in Wawel cathedral in Krakow - a place reserved for Poland's kings and heroes.

Hundreds have taken to the streets of the southern city in protest at the plan for a second consecutive night.

Thousands have joined an internet campaign against it. Mr Kaczynski died in a plane crash on Saturday along with his wife and many senior officials.

A date for a presidential election will be set after the funeral on Sunday.

Acclaimed Polish film director Andrzej Wajda dubbed the burial arrangements "misplaced" and "hastily made as emotions ran high", in an open letter published by the newspaper, Gazeta Wyborcza.

"Lech Kaczynski was an ordinary and good man, but there is no reason for him to lie in the Wawel among the kings of Poland and Marshal Jozef Pilsudski [the founder of modern-day Poland]," he said.

Officials said the site in a crypt close to Marshal Pilsudski was chosen by church leaders and the Kaczynski family, which include Mr Kaczynski's twin, Jaroslaw - the leader of Poland's opposition.

But Mr Wajda said the decision "will spark protests and could cause the deepest splits in Polish society since 1989".

Facebook protest

Hundreds of people staged a protest in front of the residence of Krakow's Archbishop, Stanislaw Dziwisz, on Tuesday evening, carrying banners reading: "Not Krakow, not Wawel", and "Are you sure he is the equal of kings?"

Late on Wednesday a second protest was held, as well as a smaller counter demonstration in favour of the plan.

A Facebook group called "No to the Kaczynskis' burial in Wawel" had attracted more than 26,000 members by Wednesday.

Many world leaders are to attend Sunday's funeral, including US President Barack Obama along with the leaders of Russia, France and Germany.

Polish officials have said that elections for a new president will be held in June.

In a parliamentary document they wrote that there were "two possible dates" - 13 or 20 June.

Poland's acting President, Bronislaw Komorowski, is expected to name the exact date after consulting political parties.

The bodies of the presidential couple have been lying in state together at the presidential palace in Warsaw.

They were among 96 people on board the Polish government jet that crashed in heavy fog while trying to land in the Smolensk region of Russia.

They had been travelling to attend a memorial service for Polish military officers and others massacred by Stalin's secret police at Katyn in 1940.

Other victims of the crash, whose bodies are believed to have been badly disfigured or burnt in the crash, are being identified by forensic scientists in Moscow.

A number of the dead have yet to be retrieved from the wreckage, officials said.

Russian investigators believe pilot error was to blame for the crash.

Air traffic controllers who handled the plane have been quoted as saying the Polish crew refused three times to heed advice to divert to another airport because of poor visibility.