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Page last updated at 16:04 GMT, Tuesday, 28 April 2009 17:04 UK

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In pictures: Pope visits earthquake region

The Pope surveys damaged buildings with firefighters.

Pope Benedict XVI visited the central Italy region of Abruzzo three weeks after a devastating earthquake killed almost 300 people and destroyed thousands of buildings in its mountainous villages.

He was shown around by firefighters, many of whom had helped rescue survivors and retrieve bodies after the 6 April quake.

Students await the arrival of the Pope beside the ruined dormitory in L'Aquila.

Students awaited his arrival beside the rubble of a student dormitory in which several bodies were found. They greeted him with emotion and prayed together.

The body of Celestino V in L'Aquila during the Pope's visit

The Pope also visited the shrine of Celestino V, preserved in a crystal case amid rubble in the Basilica of Maria di Collemaggio, one of the region's most famous churches.

The Pope visited a tent city in Onna, one of the badly damaged villages.

Pope Benedict visited a camp at Onna, one of the many tent cities housing some of the 36,000 homeless residents. He urged everyone to ensure the village and region were "reborn".

The Pope waves to soldiers and residents in Coppito during his trip

At a military academy on the outskirts of L'Aquila, soldiers greeted the Pope. He called for "soul searching" over whether potential shoddy building work contributed to the toll.

A priest waits beside rubble in L'Aquila

In what is a strongly Catholic nation, the residents were visibly moved by the Pope's visit, his first to the region since the quake.

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