Montalera Castle rises from the peak of an isolated hill in a splendid panoramic position between lake Trasimeno and the river Tresa.

The name derives from Hera, or Juno, Jupiter’s wife, suggesting that the site may have been settled since ancient times.

In the high medieval era Montalera became part of the defensive system of castles that controlled the borders of the Lombard dukedom of Chiusi. It then fell under the control of Perugia, when the city began its expansion towards the lake. In 1200 Montalera was owned by the Montemelino, an important feudal family who were denounced as rebels in 1249 for having sided with Frederick II of Swabia against the Guelphs in Perugia. In the first years of the XVI century it was the residence of Atalanta Baglioni, who commissioned Raphael to paint his famous Entombment, dedicated to the memory of her son Grifonetto who was killed in a family feud in 1500. Grifonetto’s son, Braccio II Baglioni, had the building further fortified by Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane. Some rooms within the defensive walls date back to the Renaissance residence.