Magione, Umbria
Coat of arms of Magione

Umbria · Perugia

Magione

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

Best time
Apr–Oct
By train
Station in the comune
Population
14,620

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.

Read the full feature on anywhereitaly.com

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

  • J10°
  • F12°
  • M14°
  • A17°
  • M22°
  • J28°
  • J32°
  • A31°
  • S26°
  • O21°
  • N15°
  • D11°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

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.

How to get there

From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 54 min by car.

Bologna (BLQ) is about 2 h 39 min away.

By car from the center of Perugia 20 min, Siena 1 h 19 min or Florence 1 h 40 min.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Florence or Rome?

Coming by train into Perugia? Magione is about 17 min away by road.

Every town within reach of Ancona airport.

First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.

Magione, Umbria
Magione, Umbria

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

From the guides

Where to eat

Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.

Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.

Living here

  • Population 14,620, down 1.3% since 2015
  • Commuter belti
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • Nearest national health service hospital Castiglione del Lago, 15 km as the crow flies · how healthcare works in Italy
  • Full fibre reaches 65% of homes
  • Primary school in the comune
  • Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
  • Ancona airport, 1 h 54 min drive, the closest of the 15 airports we time
  • Regional capital Perugia, 20 min drive

Could you live here?

Magione meets both of our rules for a small town.

  • 14,620 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
  • Perugia, a city of 161,748, is 20 min by car. Closer than our 30 to 60 minutes: handy for everything, so check the town still keeps a life of its own.
  • A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.

The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.

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Common questions

What is Magione known for?
Magione is a hill town east of Trasimeno built around a medieval Order's fortified base.
Where is Magione?
Magione is a comune in the province of Perugia, in Umbria, at 299 meters above sea level.
Which of the airports we measure is closest to Magione?
Of the 15 airports we time the drive to, the closest is Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 54 min by car.
Can you get to Magione without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Perugia to Magione?
About 20 min by car.
When is the best time to visit Magione?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 32 degrees, and December the wettest, with about 11 rain days.
Which other towns are like Magione?
Assisi, Monteprandone and Fiesole.
How many people live in Magione?
14,620 at the 2023 count.
Is Magione a good place to live?
By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Magione is a small town that meets both of our rules. The nearest city, Perugia, is 20 min away by car. The nearest national health service hospital is in Castiglione del Lago, 15 km as the crow flies. Full fibre reaches 65% of homes.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources

The numbers

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

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

Similar

Towns like Magione

What all six share with Magione: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns · have a railway station in the comune