Pavona is one of the two great hamlets of Albano Laziale and was founded in the places around the Laghetto (once Lacus Turni) where it is said that the nymph Giuturna lived, the sister of the King Turno of the Rutuli, killed by Enea.
Here was the ancient Latin city of Apiolae, destroyed by the Etruscan king of Rome, Tarquinio Prisco in his expansion south of Rome in the 7th century BC.
From this area comes the famous polychrome head of a Latin warrior that can be seen in the Civic Museum of Albano.
After the fall of the Roman empire, the citizens gathered around fortified sites with agricultural plots protected by a tower. In Pavona two towers were built: one on the ruins of Apiolae and one in San Fumia.
In 1611 the small lake was reduced and drained by Pope Paul V for hygienic reasons. But the urban development of Pavona is due to the opening of the railway station in 1863.
The name Pavona is linked to the beauty of a woman: some claim to be the name of a tavern manager, others that it is the nickname of a friend of Cardinal Flavio Chigi who had built a villa for her in this area.
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