The “Vie dei Tesori” (Masterpiece Road) program that helps visitors to Palermo discover its cultural heritage sites is a good model for local authorities as they prepare for the city's year as Italian Capital of Culture in 2018. Last year, the number of visitors that took part in the project hit a record 250,000.

The resources available to authorities are limited: they have just €8.5 million to carry out an ambitious plan described in the 60 pages supporting the Sicilian capital's candidature. Those funds will be needed to organize and prepare its cultural offering: both existing sites and those that will be reopened or fixed up such as the Spasimo church, Teatro Garibaldi and the Giuseppe Pitrè museum.