Castiglione del Lago has been constructed on a limestone cliff cape on the east side of the Trasimeno Lake. Etrurians were probably the first to occupy this area, as confirmed by the findings of tombs in the area.

After the Roman occupation, the village belonged respectively to the marquis of Tuscany, to the abbey of S.Germano from Campoleone, to Perugia, to the Duke Della Corgna until 1647, again to the grand-duke of Tuscany and, in the XVIII century to the Papal State. Inside the urban center, the middle age town walls, the Town hall and the palace of Della Corgna Dukes are still well preserved. The latter, probably a remake of a preexisting structure realized by the Vignola or the Alessi, has frescoes of mithological topic painted by Giovanni Antonio Pandolfi and Salvio Salvini. The most fascinating building of all the village is without any doubt the castle which, with its four towers, represents one of the most remarkable examples of military art in Umbria.