What is Magione known for?

Twelfth-century Hospitaller maison still owned by the Order, the source of the town's name and its medieval economy. Cesare Borgia's captains plotted his overthrow inside the castle; Machiavelli leaked the plan and the conspirators were liquidated. Città dell'Olio member, olive groves on the hills between the lake's eastern shore and Perugia at 250-350 meters.

When is the best time to visit Magione?

Apr–Oct. April through June and September into October are the working months on the eastern Trasimeno: clear lake light, olive groves on the hills above, evenings cool enough to walk between the Castello and the Torre. July and August reach the low thirties in the basin; the lake helps but weekends fill with Perugia and Florence day-trippers and the lakefront frazione of San Feliciano runs heavy. The olive harvest in late October and November turns the territory busy with frantoi at full capacity. December through March is quiet. The Castello dei Cavalieri reduces opening hours, the ferries thin, and the hills above the lake see their first frost.

Magione is a comune in the province of Perugia, Umbria region of Italy, about 23 kilometers from Perugia.

How do I get to Magione?

From Perugia, Magione is roughly 23 km by road.

Umbria · Perugia

Magione

A hill town east of Trasimeno built around a medieval Order's fortified base.

Known for

KNIGHTS OF MALTA
Twelfth-century Hospitaller maison still owned by the Order, the source of the town's name and its medieval economy.
CONSPIRACY OF 1502
Cesare Borgia's captains plotted his overthrow inside the castle; Machiavelli leaked the plan and the conspirators were liquidated.
OLIO TRASIMENO
Città dell'Olio member, olive groves on the hills between the lake's eastern shore and Perugia at 250-350 meters.

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

Best
Hot or crowded
Quiet
Mostly closed

The festa: papa Clemente I, 23 November

Why come

Magione sits on a hill east of Lake Trasimeno, fifteen kilometers from Perugia. The name comes from the Knights Hospitaller, who built a hospital here in the mid-twelfth century dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and called their convent Maison in their own language. The original nucleus stood on the Perugia-Tuscany route and grew into the fortified base that still anchors the town today.

The lower town is organized around two medieval poles: the castle complex near the old route, and the quadrangular tower rising thirty meters over the settlement, built in the same period by the same Order. The vineyards on the surrounding hills lie between 250 and 350 meters above sea level, and the town's territory extends down to the lake's eastern shore. In October 1502, the castle hosted a plot against Cesare Borgia: his own captains and allies conspired against him inside its walls.

Niccolò Machiavelli, on diplomatic mission for Florence, learned the details and passed them to Borgia, who dismantled the conspirators within months. A hospital, a tower, and a plot against a Borgia: the town's history reads as a sequence of episodes gathered around the same fortified point on the road between Perugia and Tuscany.

We've been

Feature from our free newsletter

Lago Trasimeno | Never Compete with the Sea

The lake is like a sanatorium compared to the sea. It’s relaxed. It’s calm. It’s silent. To find this level of almost disturbing quietness, you either go up into the mountains, or you really need to know your way around the sea to find that particular spot not overrun by vacationers and beach people. In Trasimeno, this is easy. Even the most popular towns like Castiglione or Passignano sit in quiet harmony with the stillness of the water.

From the Magione letter, August 2026

Read the full feature on anywhereitaly.com

What to see

Castello dei Cavalieri di Malta
The fortified complex built by the Knights Hospitaller stands as the town's anchor, its walls the setting where the Conspiracy of Magione was plotted against Cesare Borgia.
Torre dei Lambardi
Thirty-meter quadrangular tower built between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries by the Gerosolimitani Knights, three floors and a summit terrace.
Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista
Parish church inside the castle complex, dedicated to the saint of the original Hospitaller foundation.
Lago Trasimeno
Magione's territory reaches the eastern shore, with Isola Polvese 4 km offshore reachable from San Feliciano frazione.

The slow-trip planner

Building a trip? Find where Magione fits in a slow Italy circuit.

Answer five questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.

Plan your trip

Through the year

What happens here

Feasts and festivals that come back year after year. We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the source before you plan a journey around one.

Festa del Giacchio - Sagra del Pesce del Lago Trasimenofood festival
usually held across July and August. itinerarinelgusto.it

Living here

Population 14,620
Commuter belti
Pharmacy in town
High school within a 30-minute drive
Train station in the comune
Nearest airport Ancona / Pescara, 1 h 54 min drive
Regional capital Perugia, 20 min drive

Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

Recognised as

The numbers

Elevation: 299 m
Population: 14,620
Surface area: 129.73 km²

On the map

Google Maps Apple Maps Directions from Perugia

These figures were compiled from public directories — ISTAT, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata — and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

Close by