An ancient mansion of knights and conspiracies

The fortified complex visible today is the result of various constructions layered over the centuries. The original building dates back to 1150/1170: indeed, the oldest document mentioning it dates from 1171 and informs us that a hospital structure of the Knights Hospitaller existed here.

The chivalric order of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem – this is the full name – was founded in the mid-11th century for the care and assistance of pilgrims in the Holy Land. When the Crusader Kingdoms fell, the Knights first moved to Cyprus, then to Rhodes, and finally to Malta in 1530, where they became known as the Knights of Malta. Raymond du Puy de Provence, Grand Master of the Order between 1120 and 1160, gave them their own Rule. Over the centuries, the Order experienced various challenges; the Catholic branch still exists today, headquartered in Rome and named the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, with some state-like privileges but no territory. It remains the owner of the Castle of Magione.

The original building had two structures arranged in an L-shape, with a bell tower above, today the only surviving part of the ancient structure. During the Middle Ages, it was fortified and transformed into a square-plan manor with corner towers, developed around a central courtyard. In the 15th century, it underwent its last and final transformation by the Bolognese architect Fioravante Fioravanti, who was active at the same time in Umbria, working on the Rocca di Montone (Fortress of Montone), the Braccesque loggias of the Perugia Cathedral, and important hydraulic works near Lake Trasimeno. The building increasingly took on the appearance of a castle, with circular towers, battlements, and a beautiful three-tiered loggia in the inner courtyard. A terracotta plaque in the loggia wall may assign the commission of the cloister's work to Cardinal Marco Barbo, commendator of the Roman priory of the Sovereign Order of Malta from 1466 to 1471.