Chiesa di San Biagio church in Montepulciano , Italy. Panoramic view of the Tuscan hills overlooking the christian temple. Spectacular horizontal outdoors image.Getty
Did New Moon actually film in Italy?
In Twilight, the Tuscan city of Volterra is the home base of the intimidating royal vampire Volturi. Volterra is a very real place, but in real life, the Italy-set scenes for New Moon were actually filmed in Moltepulciano, a different town in Tuscany. Driving through the area now you’ll see signs advertising Moltepulciano as the filming location of New Moon, and there are even guides for Twilight-specific tourists at the tourist information office in the town’s piazza.
Where else can you visit from the Twilight movies?
With five movies and a heck of a lot of story to cover, the Twilight movies managed to cover some ground in the Pacific Northwest alone. There’s Wauna Federal Credit Union in Vernonia, Oregon, which “played” the police station Charlie Swan works at. Though technically in Arizona in the movie, Mimi’s School of Dance actually used the Yale Union Laundry building in Portland, Oregon for the site of an epic battle in the first Twilight movie. The Oregon City Mill subbed in for Grisham Mill, where James’ nomadic coven attacked a security guard. Breaking Dawn: Part 1 and Breaking Dawn: Part 2 were filmed in Vancouver, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans, with locations including The Roosevelt New Orleans and Celtic Studios. Bella and Edward’s fictional honeymoon spot Isle of Esma came to life in Partay, Brazil, and the house they filmed in was even available for rent once upon a time. Elsewhere, the scene in Eclipse where newborn vamps emerge from a foggy lake was filmed at Belcarra Regional Park, in Port Moody, Canada — more specifically at Sasamat Lake. And yes, you can swim there in real life if you’d like to get a pic of yourself emerging, gleaming and new like a brand-new vampire.
