A pizza in the Vatican colours, a massive image of Benedict XVI on the cathedral and 14 kilometres of crush barriers are among the props being readied in Naples ahead of this weekend's visit by the pope.
"We thought we'd put sweetcorn and mozzarella on a red background," said Carmine Stendardo, owner of the 'Ciro a Santa Brigida' pizza restaurant in the heart of the old city.
Stendardo's eaterie, not far from the piazza where Benedict is scheduled to hold a Mass on Sunday morning, often creates new pizzas when illustrious guests come to Naples, the home of the pizza.
His new creation is called the Pontiff Pizza. "This is our tribute to the pope. His visit to Naples fills us with pride," he said.
It will be Benedict's first visit to Naples and one of the few trips that the 80-year-old leader of the world's Catholics is making inside Italy this year.
Some 65,000 Neapolitans have asked for one of the passes that will allow entry into Piazza Plebiscito, where the Mass is to take place. Only 19,000 are available, so the others will have to watch the event on the giant video screens erected in the nearby Piazza Municipio.
The pope is set to arrive in the southern city by helicopter at around 9.15 and to drive in his white, open-top pope-mobile to the site of the Mass.
After the ceremony, which marks the official opening of a three-day inter-religious meeting in the city, he will go to a Catholic seminary on the Capodimonte hill for lunch.
In the afternoon he will visit the city's cathedral where, as well as seeing the giant image of himself on the facade, he will venerate the remains of San Gennaro, the city's patron saint.
City officials expressed joy earlier this year when the pastoral visit was announced and Naples Mayor Rosa Russa Iervolino said she hoped the pope's arrival would give Neapolitans "courage" to face the challenges of their crowded, noisy city.
"From the pope's words each of us will draw the strength to build on the good in our community," said regional government chief Antonio Bassolino, a former Naples mayor himself who knows the city's problems well.
Naples, the biggest city in the south of Italy, has enduring problems with unemployment and organised crime.
Earlier this month anti-pope graffiti - including one reading 'Death to Ratzinger' - appeared on walls in the city centre. Police attributed the scrawls to anarchists or extreme leftwing groups angered by the Church's stance on euthanasia and rights for unwed couples.
The Archbishop of Naples, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, said the graffiti was the work of an isolated minority which didn't reflect the city's feelings about the visit.
"Neapolitans see the pope's visit as a benevolent gesture, which honours the city and encourages everyone to go forward with hope and courage".
The inter-religious meeting starting in Naples on Sunday will bring together leading figures from the Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist and Hindu worlds to pray for peace.
