TA TALKS BACK: ADVENTURES IN VOLTERRA ITALY NEW MOON MOVIE LOCATION

TA Staff member Destiny Froste shares her images, video and insight on her adventures in Volterra Italy:

As most of you already know, two weekends ago I made my way to Volterra. Aside from transportation issues (Volterra is not easy to reach, especially on a Sunday), I found the town incredible and an absolutely perfect choice for the home town of the Volturi. Whereas many towns change and evolve through time, Volterra still maintains a very medieval feel all throughout it.

I left early on a train from Pisa to Pontedera. From Pontedera you have to take a bus to Volterra. The station is not clear on where the buses are, but if you head out the front of the station and go strait forward and across the little plaza, you will see the bus station. The bus you take is actually more like a van, with nice seats an everything.

From the outskirts of Volterra, one can see the hills of Tuscany below, stretching out unto the horizon. All but a few of the streets are narrow alleyways, most of them twisted, shadowed, and topped by stone archways

While I spent a good couple hours allowing myself to become lost in Volterra, the famous Piazza dei Priori is not too difficult to find from where the bus lets you off. You simply go strait into the city, turn left, and you are there. The square is confusing though if you do not know previously, that there is in fact, no fountain as was depicted in New Moon. I was not the only person confused by this though, as I heard another young Twilight fan tell her mother that “There was a fountain, so this can’t be it.” Why Stephanie Meyer decided to alter the landscape of the Piazza, I do not know, but she did. I thought perhaps instead of a fountain, she could have had Bella stand on a small ledge attached to the Palazzo dei Priori, which would have allowed a view of any of the alleys Edward might have been in. If they chose Volterra as the filming location, it will be interesting to see if they modify the Piazza to fit Stephanie’s description, or alter the scene to accommidate the true setting.

It is also interesting to note, on the subject of the fountain, that there happens to be only one fountain that I saw in the entire city. This is odd, because as a Medieval city, inhabitants would have been dependent on this one water source and yet, the only way to reach it from the city is by going down a very long stone stairway. Once you reach it, the fountain is nothing at all as people imagine the fountains of Italy, but rather a little hole flowing out of a wall, and into a covered corner with arched openings.

The Piazza is a stark contrast to the rest of Volterra, being wide open and spacious, so I can see it as being a gathering place for a large festival. As for the Palazzo dei Priori, it looms above the Piazza looking very imposing. You can also hear the bells ringing from pretty much anywhere in the town.

Where Volterra could have rejected the image given to it by Stephanie Meyer, they seem to have embraced it. Right in the Piazza, there is a tourist office that boasts of the towns connection with a window display that would catch the attention of any Twilight fan.

Across from the tourist office and the Palazza, is a covered entrance way that Twilight fans from across the world seemed to have commandeered.

The last thing I want to touch on, is the ally in which Edward was supposed to have stood in. When I spoke to the woman in the tourist office, she told me that they believe it to be this one:

However I disagree and believe Stephanie Meyer intended on this being the infamous alley:

There are several reasons for this.

First, I think the second alley (my alley) is much more private and less used. While Edward wanted to make a spectacle, he seems to have been very well concealed until the point in which he was going to reveal himself. Right around the corner from the first alley (other alley) is a bookshop and a Chocolate shop…hardly concealed.

Second, with it being months since I last read New Moon, I noticed right away that the second alley seemed to be in the perfect position for the suns trajectory, so that high noon would be the perfect time for Edward to emerge from it.

Now, lets get into the evidence from the book itself.

“‘Edward will be under the clock tower, to the north of the square. There’s a narrow alleyway on the right, and he’ll be in the shadow there.’”

This is actually a confusing quote, as Edward would not be actually under the clock tower, the clock tower is on the other side of the square. Both alleyways would be to the right from the main entrance to the square, however my alley is across the square (as Bella had to fight through the crowd) whereas the other alley is just to the right of the main entrance. Very little fighting through crowds required. Also, my alley is at the north of the square, the other alley is at the east.

“She pointed to where the street widened into a patch of bright openness. ‘There—we’re at the southern end of the square. Run straight across, to the right of the clock tower.’”

Again, the description is not entirely clear and accurate. The clock tower is to your left as you enter from the southern end of the square, but if you run straight across from there and to the right, you arrive at my alley.

That is all from me and my trip to Volterra, I strongly recommend to everyone, if you get a chance, to visit for yourself. Until then, I leave you with a little video I took in the Piazza.

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