The Eternal City has been given a facelift in preparation for the event, with monuments cleaned up and roads redesigned to improve the flow of traffic

Pope Francis opened the “Holy Door” of St Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve, launching the Jubilee year of Catholic celebrations set to draw more than 30 million pilgrims to Rome.

The 88-year-old pontiff, who has recently been suffering from a cold, was pushed in a wheelchair up to the huge, ornate bronze door and knocked on it, before the door opened.