Italian firemen honoured the Madonna of Piazza di Spagna.

Firefighters adorned the 39 ft (11.8 m) statue of the Madonna Immacolata in Piazza di Spagna with a floral crown amid rainfall, marking the start of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Rome, Italy, on December 8.

Senior team leader Fausto Isidori climbed over 100 steps of the fire truck's aerial ladder to place the flowers on the Marian figure's arm.

The event continued with a short prayer and blessing from the presiding priest, who then splashed holy water on the firemen.

Pope Francis arrived in the afternoon to pay homage to the Blessed Mother and prayed before the icon Maria Salus Populi Romani at Saint Mary Major.

He then visited Rome's Piazza di Spagna to perform the traditional Act of Veneration to the Blessed Virgin Mary before the statue of the Immaculate Conception.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is one of the most important Marian feasts in the liturgical calendar of the Latin Church.