ROME — Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes will likely wed tomorrow in a Scientology ceremony held at a 15th century Italian castle in a lakeside town near Rome, the town's mayor said yesterday.The couple (pictured), along with guests, are then expected to attend a banquet the same day in Rome, Bracciano Mayor Patrizia Riccioni said.

For weeks rumours have focused on Odescalchi Castle in the sleepy town of Bracciano as the likely venue for the celebrity wedding. Riccioni told a news conference yesterday she had met the couple the day before somewhere outside of her town, but she would not say where.

She was coy about other details, too, saying only that she expected the couple to arrive tomorrow morning at the castle, which overlooks Lake Bracciano, for what she believed would be a Scientology wedding ceremony, followed by a banquet. She said she expected the couple to return to the Italian capital the same day.

Cruise, 44, star of the Mission: Impossible <$>films, and Holmes, 27, have been staying at a luxury hotel near the Spanish Steps in Rome. They were photographed yesterday with their infant daughter, Suri, as they walked to a restaurant in the city.

The area immediately surrounding Nino restaurant was cordoned off, and private security officials crowded the area.

Those spotted going into the restaurant included Mission Impossible III director J.J. Abrams, Brooke Shields and Jennifer Lopez. Lopez's husband, Marc Anthony, briefly stepped out to smoke a cigarette.

While Riccioni stopped short of confirming the actual date of the wedding, the town's web site had a picture of Cruise and Holmes under the headline, "The wedding of the year in Bracciano, Saturday, 18 November 2006."

"I want to thank Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes for choosing this venue for such an important event," Riccioni said.