A towering white statue of Pope Leo XIV has been unveiled on Peru's Pacific coast, days before the pontiff himself arrives in the country. The 14-metre (46-foot) monument was inaugurated on Monday in a seaside park in Callao, the port city adjoining Lima.

The statue shows the pope with his arms stretched wide, dressed in flowing white robes. Its municipality bills it as the world's tallest sculpture of a pope. It depicts the first US-born pope in a country that has embraced him as one of its own.

Pope Leo is due to arrive in Peru on Wednesday, for the final and most personal leg of his 12-day, three-country tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru. It is his first trip to South America as pope, and a return to a region where he spent years as a missionary.

Built in 45 days

The sculptors, Rafael Gutiérrez, 43, and Deyvi Wong, 42, said they worked with a team to complete the monument in just 45 days. Starting with a basic design provided by the municipality, they studied close-up photographs of Leo, down to minute details of his face.

The statue, made of steel, fibreglass and resin, was transported across the capital in sections aboard trailers last week before cranes hoisted its body and outstretched arms into place overlooking the city. Workers unveiled it by pulling away an enormous white draping, revealing a precise likeness that even features a small mole above the pope's upper lip.

Hundreds turn out for unveiling

Hundreds of people turned out for the inauguration. The crowd cheered and a youth choir sang as the statue was revealed. “It's a perfect welcome for the pope,” said Natalia Moran, 29, who came to the unveiling with her mother. They both wore T-shirts with an image of the pontiff and the message “Welcome home, Pope Leo.”

For Callao, Peru's main port city and an area hit by a recent surge in violent crime, Mr Wong said he hoped the statue would transmit a message of “peace that should prevail here among everyone who lives in the district.”

A homecoming for Leo

Leo's return to Peru has generated intense excitement in a country preparing for what officials and businesses hope will be a tourism bonanza. Millions of people are expected to turn out for his largest Masses in Lima and Chiclayo, while merchants in the capital are selling pope-themed shirts and souvenirs.

Another statue of the pontiff already stands in Chiclayo, the northern city where Leo remains affectionately remembered from his years as bishop. The 71-year-old pontiff has used the trip to call for greater unity in a politically divided region and to address social, economic and environmental issues.

Leo is due to arrive at an air base in Callao on Wednesday before meeting President Keiko Fujimori. His visit to Peru, which runs until 16 November, will take him from the coast to the Andes and into the Amazon, closing a tour that has already drawn huge crowds in Uruguay and Argentina.