In a document dated 1208, the Mansio Templi is mentioned among the owners of properties bordering on a piece of land in loco Levurni, which belonged to the monastery of Rocca delle Donne. The existence of this house is confirmed in a deed of 1222 in which the domus Sancte Marie de Ysana was placed under the protection of Giacomo de Mellacio together with those of Vercelli, Novara and Ivrea. Later, the preceptors of the house, Gerardo and Giovanni, participated in the chapters of 1268 and 1271, where they are said to be in charge of the domus de Livurno and domus de Livuno.
In 1298, the ecclesia Sancte Marie de Exana, which subest milicie Templi (subject to the Milites Tempi), paid a tithe of forty liras.
The last record of this house (which stood on the route of the Via Francigena) during the Templar period dates back to the end of January 1310, when the inquisitor Ottone da Milano transferred the management of the house to the vicars of the archdiocese of Ravenna and Pisa. After the dissolution of the Order, the house was given to the Knights of St John and became part of the commendam of Verolengo.
The church that belonged to the Templars still exists today, well preserved. It is the best existing example of the Order’s architecture in north-western Italy; the style of the building dates back to the middle of the 12th century.
