Zocco Castle and Church of St. Macario

Built near Magione, Zocco castle (13th century) dominates Lake Trasimeno from on high. Over the centuries it represented the most powerful military settlement in the area, equipped with seven towers, of which five remain today, three gates and a mighty wall. It was erected in 1274 next to a Franciscan convent, and it was given the name of Zocco probably due to its shape, very similar to a "horse shoe".

The castle slowly started to decline from the 16th century onwards, but in the early 20th century a small community of peasants still dwelt there. Inside, of all the buildings that were present, two farmhouses in a fairly good state of conservation remain, one of the two old mills and the church, originally Saint Maria’s, afterwards known by the name of St. Macario, of ancient origin, that was the original religious nucleus around which the castle was said to have been built. Until the middle of the last century it was possible to read the Latin characters on its walls “Lady Elena had this work done in the year MCCXXV“; alongside there was a painting representing a lady with the inscription “Woman of Betto di Cecco“.