(Photo: Reuters)

A national day of mourning culminated in a military ceremony and a funeral mass. Foreign dignitaries gathered in the French capital on Monday for the funeral of Jacques Chirac, who died last week at the age of 86. Monday was declared a national day of mourning, and a minute's silence was held in schools and public buildings across the country.

In a ceremony presided over by French President Emmanuel Macron, French armed forces gave Chirac military honors in the courtyard of Les Invalides. After the military ceremony, Chirac's coffin was taken to Saint Sulpice church in central Paris for a midday memorial ceremony attended by Macron and some 30 other heads of state and government leaders. Chirac was buried in a small ceremony with close family and friends at Montparnasse cemetery in Paris.