A bright red firetruck then transported the coffin through the city, as huge crowds of fans, some in tears, lined the streets and gathered on balconies to say a last goodbye, chanting "1,000 goals, only Pele!"
The longest stop was outside the beige house where Pele's mother, Celeste Arantes, still lives.
"Dona Celeste," as she is known, has cognitive difficulties, and is unaware her world-famous son has died, according to the family. But Pele's sister, Maria Lucia, who lives with her, clasped her hands and tearfully bowed her head to the massive crowd in gratitude, surrounded by family on the house's balcony.
The cemetery said Pele's embalmed body would rest in its coffin, displayed in the middle of a 200-square-meter (2,150-square-foot) replica football stadium with artificial turf, surrounded by gilded images from his glory days.
- 'PELE WAS EVERYTHING' -
Life-long Santos fan Katia Cruz, 58, who lives a block from the stadium, said she had stood in line for four hours overnight to get into the Vila Belmiro, attending Pele's wake without her husband because he was "inconsolable."
"Pele was everything. He was the King. He deserves this," she told AFP.
Tributes continued pouring in from around Brazil, which held three days of national mourning.
Rio de Janeiro's mayor said the city would rename the street outside the iconic Maracana stadium Pele Avenue.
At the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation, a giant poster with Pele's image bore the word "eternal."
Pele's son Edinho said the family was grateful for the gestures.
But "any homage we can pay to him is small compared to what he represents and the life story he wrote," he said.
"I am just so grateful and proud."
