Pavia (Iloilo) 5.69

Pavia is a second-class municipality in the province of Iloilo, Philippines. According to the, it has a population of people.Pavia is the smallest municipality in terms of area in Iloilo, covering only. The municipality is the Regional Agro-Industrial Center for Western Visayas and is located north of Iloilo City.The Catholic church, currently undergoing restoration, is similar to one in Pavia, Italy.EtymologyHow the town got its name is unclear, and has long been disputed. One theory has it that the name came from a certain Colonel Pavia of the Spanish garrison in Iloilo who was supposedly responsible for initially establishing a Spanish presence in the area. Others believe that the name is a Spanish corruption of the Hiligaynon word biya-biya, as the area was originally considered a neglected patch of land that served mostly as a camping ground for city sophisticates and absentee landlords. Others claim that the town was named after a Spanish governor-general, Manuel Pavia y Lay, Marquis of Novaliches, who eventually became a priest after his short tenure in the Philippines from 1853-1854. However, the more credible theory seems to be the overlooked fact that the town's religious well-being was placed under the jurisdiction and supervision of the friars of the Augustinian Order, and they simply named the place in honor of the town of Pavia, Italy, where the founder of their order, Saint Augustine, was buried.