People arrived in the thousands at the Castello Sforzesco, in Milan, to bid a last farewell to writer and philosopher Umberto Eco, despite the fact that the vast majority of them could not even enter the courtyard where the ceremony was held

-they had to settle for the main square—and could barely see a thing. It was a secular, austere funeral service, in accordance with the writer’s own wishes, where words played the mail role.

They did not set up large screens to broadcast the celebration; not even a large stage. Only loudspeakers were installed, and the persons who spoke where only those close to Eco, who had known the maestro very well, and who knew their subject matter firsthand.

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