HISTORY

Magione has Etruscan-Roman origins, but the first historical records go back to the Middle Ages and a document mentioning a villa on the Pian di Carpine, the plain situated at the cross roads between Perugia, Chiusi and Lake Trasimeno, which was used by all the pilgrims coming from or going to Rome. To care for these pilgrims, the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St John of Jerusalem founded a hospice called La Magione di Pian del Carpine, and today's Magione grew out of this nucleus. Towards the end of 1300 the Knights of Malta decided to transform the hospice into a castle to protect it against subjugation by Perugia. In 1502 a plot against Cesare Borgia, illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI, was organised in the castle but when Borgia discovered the plan he had the conspirators strangled. Magione was the birthplace of John of Plano Carpini, disciple of Saint Francis, who set out on a grand journey to the Orient and arrived at the court of the Great Khan in Monglia. On his return he wrote Historia Mongalorum quos nos Tartaros appellamus (History of the Monguls, which we call Tartars).

ART, CULTURE, ENVIRONMENT

The most important building is the Castle of the Knights of Malta, one of the most beautiful in Umbria, which was constructed on a square plane with large round towers and a courtyard that has 3 levels of loggia on 3 sides. The present building, built around the nucleus of the pilgrim hospice founded in the 12th century by the Knights of Jerusalem, is an enlargement of the pre-existing castle that incorporated a Benedictine abbey from the 12th century, thought to have belonged to the Knights Templar.

Of interest is the church of San Giovanni Battista, built in 1571, with a majestic Baroque facade and on the inside a fresco cycle by Gerardo Dottori; the church of Madonna delle Grazie (1209) featuring the Vergine in Trono con il Bambino (1371), a painting attributed to Andrea Di Giovanni da Orvieto; the Torre dei Lombardi tower built between the 12th and 13th centuries by the Knights of Jerusalem for defence; and the Palazzo Comunale, town hall, home to frescoes by Gerardo Dottori.

In the vicinity worthy of a visit is the medieval hamlet of Montecolognola that gives a wonderful view on to Lake Trasimeno, and the church of Santa Maria Annunziata; the Castle at Agello; the Abbey and Romanesque church at Sant'Arcangelo; and the Museo della Pesca, fishing museum, at San Feliciano that also has a retrospective of the anthropological history of Lake Trasimeno. La Valle nature reserve situated within the Regional Park of Trasimeno is of great interest. It has a Visitors Centre; a library dedicated to the Trasimeno area with books on nature and scientific texts; a bird ringing station; wooden walkways; and bird watching observatories.