The Turin Shroud, believed by many Christians to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, has gone on public display for the first time in 10 years.
Some two million people are expected to visit Turin Cathedral to see the shroud, which will be on public view for six weeks, kept in a bullet-proof and climate-controlled case, the BBC reports.
Tests in 1988 dated it to between 1260 and 1390, suggesting it was a medieval forgery, but other scientists disagree with that verdict.
Pope Benedict is due to fly to Turin on 2 May to pray before the shroud.
