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Travel » DestinationsTo capitalize on New Moon's popularity, the Volterra tourism board sponsors Twilight-themed weekends that include a reception with "blood."

By Don Faust, www.DonFaustPhoto, for USA TODAY

'New Moon' rising: 'Twilight' fans swarm Volterra, Italy Updated  | Comment  | Recommend E-mail | Save | Print |

By Chris Gray Faust, USA TODAY

VOLTERRA, Italy — On a college break, American teenager Kiersten Kunke and her friend, Canadian Stephanie Regier, plot their version of an Italian Grand Tour. On their must-see list: Florence, Venice, Rome — and Volterra?

This small Tuscan city with an ancient Etruscan history has become a cult destination among traveling teenagers and people in their 20s (not to mention some vampire-loving mothers), thanks to the phenomenon Twilight. In the series' second book, author Stephenie Meyer set a crucial scene between heroine Bella and her undead soul mate Edward in Volterra — and, as The Twilight Saga: New Moon prepares to open as a movie Nov. 20, fans are dying to retrace the tormented couple's steps.

PHOTO GALLERY: A 'New Moon' tour of VolterraREAD MORE: It's 'Twilight' time in the Pacific Northwest

Backpackers carrying battered copies of New Moon duck through the narrow alleyways of the walled city, which has about 12,000 residents. Souvenir shops hawk calendars, mugs and T-shirts bearing the tousled likeness of actor Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward in the films.

And whether fans are Team Edward or Team Jacob (Bella's two love interests in New Moon), all want to visit the Piazza dei Priori, the town's square anchored by a clock tower where the Volturi — a coven of elite vampires that plays a pivotal role in the upcoming movie — reside.

 EnlargeBy Don Faust,

www.DonFaustPhoto, for USA TODAY

Universal draw: New Moon fans come from around the world to Volterra.

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Kunke, 19, found Volterra on a map as soon as she read New Moon. "I was like, I have to go there," says the native of Portland, Ore. "It was just one of those things I had to do."

Long overshadowed by its more touristy Tuscan neighbor, San Gimignano, Volterra is capitalizing on the interest. The tourism office has created a themed map of the city, encouraged fan meet-ups, and this spring introduced a New Moon weekend package that includes a walking tour called "Hot on the Trail of Edward and Bella," Twilight merchandise and even a dramatic re-enactment of one of the book's scenes.

"It was a real surprise for us. We didn't expect it," says Paolo Paterni, head of the Volterra Tourism Board. "Volterra is a slow city. You have to live in it in a slow way. Our main aim is to direct (visitors) in the city without overrunning it."

Montepulciano: Ready for its close-up

Volterra officials lobbied to have New Moon filmed there. But elation turned to embarrassment when the film producers picked Montepulciano, another walled Tuscan town about 70 miles southeast of Volterra, for the five-day shoot in May.

Known for its wine, Montepulciano is a medieval town straight out of central casting, with steep streets and stunning hillside views. While little English is heard in Volterra, Montepulciano has long drawn day trippers from Florence and Siena. Parts of Under the Tuscan Sun were filmed here.

With its own clock tower, Montepulciano's city hall bears a startling resemblance to Volterra's Palazzo dei Priori. The filmmakers built a fake fountain in the Piazza Grande to accommodate Meyer's story line. (There isn't one in Volterra's square, either.)

The New Moon shoot elevated Montepulciano from guidebooks to tabloids as media descended upon the town, hoping for candids of the young cast enjoying la dolce vita, particularly Pattinson and his co-star Kristen Stewart.

La Locanda di San Francesco, a boutique hotel, has an expansive wine bar that owner Cinzia Caporali closed so Pattinson and his bodyguard could enjoy a private lunch. A few days later, director Chris Weitz and his family stopped in.

"It's crazy," Caporali said at the time, noting that fans booked hotel rooms for miles around the city. "Thousands of teenagers everywhere."

Now the furor has died down, Caporali says. While visitors know that New Moon was shot there, they aren't picking Montepulciano because of it, she says.

'Part of a dark tradition'

Perhaps that's because Volterra is doing everything possible to make sure that New Moon is synonymous with their city — even if it isn't the one on screen. The town sent a team of colorfully dressed flag throwers to the Rome Film Festival last month, where they walked the red carpet behind the movie's actors.

Not all cities would embrace vampires, particularly one with as proud a history. One of the 12 Etruscan power centers from the sixth to fourth century B.C. built on an economy of alabaster, iron and salt, Volterra boasts one of the largest collections of that civilization's artifacts at the Guarnacci Etruscan Museum. A Roman amphitheater outside the town walls dates to the first century, and its medieval center remains one of the best preserved in Italy.

On his twice-weekly New Moon walking tours, guide Vincenzo Riolo sandwiches history between the fiction. "We try to connect the vampires to the Etruscans," he says just outside Porta all' Arco, a city gate built in the fourth century B.C. "It's part of the dark tradition of the city."

But of course, it's the fanged ones that the teenagers want to see. The only English speakers in a group of Italian Twilight fans, Kunke and Regier, of Vancouver, giggle and snap photos in Volterra's narrow alleys, trying to scare each other. "Omigod, is that a bat?" Kunke says.

Getting there: Volterra is 2 1/2 hours by bus from Florence. Montepulciano has a train station, but it's a bus ride or steep walk to the city center. To get to both, rent a car.

Where to stay: Hotel La Locanda in Volterra has $132 doubles (hotel-lalocanda.com). Outside the city gates, Ostello della Gioventu offers a 5% discount on a two-night stay if you arrive with a Twilight book. Dorms, $22-$25; rooms, $59-$74 (youthhostelvolterra.com). Albergo Duomo was a staging area during filming in Montepulciano. Doubles, $133-$163. (albergoduomomontepulciano.it). La Locanda di San Francesco is a boutique hotel with countryside views and a wine bar where cast members ate. Rooms, $290 (locandasanfrancesco.com).

Where to eat: Splurge on Volterran specialties such as wild boar at Del Duca (entrees $13-$28). In Montepulciano, cheerful Osteria dell Aquacheta serves fresh pasta and meat from local farms (entrees $7-$21).

What to do: New Moon walking tours are held twice weekly for $37 (weekly in winter), reservations required. Monthly three-day, two-night packages with fan activities start at $399 (www.volterratur.it).

Information: volterratur.it; montepulciano.com

Riolo leads the tour into a dark building, where they walk down a clammy staircase.

Waiting at the bottom: two cloaked men and a small woman, all deathly pale. "The Volturi!" Regier gasps.

The vampires walk silently among the tourists, pulling "victims" up on a stone table. The girls huddle closer together. "This is creepy," Kunke whispers — before a vampire grabs Regier. As he attempts to bite her, she dissolves into laughter.

After the tableau, the tour-goers relive their New Moon moments over drinks. Turns out that the actors who played the Volturi are members of Compagnia della Fortezza — a theater troupe of convicts named after Volterra's Medici-era fortress-turned-prison.

For once, Kunke and Regier are speechless. Guide Riolo laughs at their shocked expressions.

"Nothing is strange here," he says later. "It's part of our DNA."

Follow Chris Gray Faust at twitter.com/CAroundTheWorld

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