Lavagna is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, in the Italian region of Liguria.

The village, unlike nearby Chiavari which has pre-Roman evidence, seems to have developed in Roman times with the Latin name of Lavania.

Since 1198 it was a fief of the Fieschi family, who used Lavagna as their stronghold in the numerous inner struggles of the Republic of Genoa.

The city recreates medieval festivities annually as the Torta dei Fieschi ("Fieschi Cake Party"), since 1949, the festivities is about a colorful parade through the Lavagna streets that reunites the inhabitants of the six medieval quarters of Lavagna, as the gigantic cake is distributed among those in the crowd who have found the matching half of their tickets.

In 2016, Giuseppe Sanguineti, the former mayor of Lavagna, was arrested due to the involvement of 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, in the disposal of the municipal waste.