This town, situated not far from the lake, takes its name from the fortified Abbey palace, recorded in 13'h century documents as a hospital for crusaders going to and from Jerusalem.
In 1311-12, the possessions of the Templars were expropriated and it passed into the hands of the Knights of Malta, who still own it today. They declared it to be their "mansio" (or "magione" in French).

The complex is built on a square plan, with corner towers, and has been subject to a good deal of reconstruction, which casts doubt on the attribution to Fioravante Fioravanti for the definitive architectural design, dating from the 1400s.
The interior has an interesting courtyard with superimosed loggias on three sides and a Throne Room.
The Abbey includes the Church of St. John the Baptist, in a style which places it at the very start of the Gothic period.

Crossing the town, the visitor comes across the parish church of St. John the Baptist, so named because it was commissioned by the Knights of Malta in the 16th century and refurbished in the 1800s (except for the original facade).
It was decorated throughout in 1947 with frescoes by Gerardo Dottori, who has left other paintings in the town, now kept in the Town Hall.

In the main street is the Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, rebuilt in 1720, which formed part of a fortified hospital, the property of the monks of St. Basil who were driven out in 1251.
It contains a "Majesty" attributed to Andrea di Giovanni (1371).

The area below and around Magione was drained in the latter decades of the 13th century and is known as the Pian di Carpine (Plain of the Hornbeam) after the trees which were once so prevalent in the area.
This name once also referred to the town itself, and is used in connection with Frà Giovanni, a native of the town, who in 1225 journeyed to the Far East, and left us his "Historia Mongolorum", the first description of the country and the Mongol people.