Vampire weekend in Volterra

'It really is the land of the gods,' said my husband, as we drove along a winding country road in Tuscany on a sunny June day.

Spring rains had ensured that all was luscious, and green hills rolled away to an ochre horizon scored by cypress trees and medieval hill towns. But there is a darker side to this ambrosial land, for we were headed for Volterra, a high citadel inhabited by Etruscans, Romans, Renaissance merchants and, most recently (or longer than anyone, if you are of that mind), vampires. And not just any old vampires, but vampires that look like Calvin Klein models and are the stars of the Twilight literary franchise. According to their creator Stephenie Meyer, the Volturi, the oldest and most powerful vampire clan, command their empire from Volterra's subterranean vaults and keep to an ancient pact made with the Volterrans, feeding only on the tourists who wander the cobbled streets.

Meyer chose Volterra by chance; she had decided on the name for her Volturi (reminiscent of vulture) and wanted them to inhabit an old and numinous place, luckily finding Volterra on a map. The Volterrans consider this a matter of great serendipity, and now many shops sell Edward and Bella branded ephemera, as well as 'Twilight tours' being offered by the tourist office.

We started our own (non-Twilight) tour at the Etruscan Porta dell'Arco gate, a wonderfully worn tufa archway with three featureless heads protruding from the stone in a sinister fashion. These are thought to be Etruscan deities, but the Volterrans have cannily renamed them after the three chief Volturi: Aro, Marcus and Caius. 'For the Volterrans, it is very normal that we should have vampires living here,' explained our guide Vincenzo. 'Volterra has always been associated with dark things. The Etruscans invented augury, the communication between gods and men. Today there are more magicians and tarot- card readers here than anywhere else in Italy, and our special cake has a skull and crossbones on it.' At the Guarnacci Etruscan museum we found more evidence of this native interest in the occult, as it is crammed with over 600 Etruscan tombs, the most famous of which is the Urna Degli Sposi, an urn showing a man and wife seated together, joined for eternity in death.

Volterra's Etruscans held out against the encroaching Romans longer than most, but by the 3rd century BC the city had fallen. The most visible evidence of the occupation is a Roman theatre, the best preserved in mainland Italy, insisted our guide, which was for many years buried beneath the town's football pitch. Like other Tuscan towns, Volterra's population dwindled with the onset of the Dark Ages, only to be reinvigorated by the Renaissance. Tower houses were built with drawbridges to access the homes of allies, so family members would not have to walk the dangerous streets. Volterra's pinacoteca (art gallery) is housed in one such tower house, complete with original wall paintings, alabaster window panes and a lovely piece of early Renaissance art, the Deposition by Rosso Fiorentino, which is full of movement, colour and swishing fabric. However, the upper levels of this tower, like all the others in Volterra, were knocked down in 1472 by the Florentine Lorenzo the Magnificent, who, in a show of dominance, also killed 1,000 citizens. To this day, Volterrans despise the Florentines.

Volterra is a delightful town, replete with history, and – as yet – untainted by excessive tourism. Real people live here, congregating in the fabulous Don Beta restaurant on Sundays for lunches of pecorino, prosciutto and fresh pasta. There are old-fashioned shops selling delicious local produce and the local Chianti Classico. On our way out we popped into a fishmonger's where live crustacea were tapping about on the wet counter, and bought a string bag of fresh clams.

We were staying a 20-minute drive from Volterra, at Villa le Terme, an old stone farmhouse that was converted into a luxury villa by an English banker in 2000. The house is gloriously situated on top of a hill, surrounded by olive groves, vineyards and wild flower meadows with poppies and irises in bloom, frequented by tiny blue butterflies. It boasts many luxuries, including an infinity pool, numerous terraces, an outdoor kitchen and a grand dining room with a vaulted ceiling. It also features an old trough from which the farm animals once fed. We sat outside to eat our spaghetti vongole and drink a bottle of the local Vernaccia wine, listening to the frogs, cuckoos and owls as the sun set and the lights in the surrounding towns began to twinkle.

The next day we headed for nearby San Gimignano, one of the very few Tuscan towns still in possession of some of its tower houses (14 remain of the original 72). It makes a wonderful sight from a distance, the medieval towers visible from many miles away. Sadly, once inside the city walls, the effect is less pleasing. San Gimignano has been turned into a Disney version of a Tuscan town – parking is a nightmare, the streets throng with noisy tourists, and everything in the shops is overpriced. As we turned on our heels to head back to our high-end rural idyll, we decided that there was only one way to restore San Gimignano to its former beauty – bring on the vampires.

GETTING THERE
EasyJet flies daily to Pisa from Gatwick, with flights starting from £29.99 one way, including taxes (easyjet.com).

WHERE TO STAY
Villa le Terme is a five-bedroom villa with pool, steam room, hot tub, pool table, pizza oven and satellite TV. Rates are from 6,038 per week, available through A&K Villas (0845 618 2205; akvillas.com).