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{{short description|District in Greater London, England}}{{About|the [[London]]
{{EngvarB|date=June 2013}}
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| postcode_district = SW1X, SW1W
| dial_code = 020
| os_grid_reference = TQ275795
}}
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During the [[Middle Ages]], the area was known as the Five Fields and was a series of fields used for grazing, intersected by footpaths.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}} The Westbourne was crossed by Bloody Bridge, probably called so as it was frequented by robbers and highwaymen, and it was unsafe to cross the fields at night. In 1728, a man's body was discovered by the bridge with half his face and five fingers removed. In 1749, a [[muffin man]] was robbed and left blind. Five Fields' distance from London also made it a popular spot for [[duelling]].{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=57}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Weinreb |first=Ben |url=http://archive.org/details/londonencycloped00ias |title=The London Encyclopedia |publisher=Adler & Adler |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-917561-07-8 |location=Bethesda, Maryland |pages=53–54}}</ref>
Despite its reputation for crime and violence, Five Fields was a pleasant area during the daytime, and various market gardens were established. The area began to be built up after [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] moved to [[Buckingham Palace|Buckingham House]] and constructed a row of houses on what is now [[Grosvenor Place]]. In 1826, [[Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster]] received rights from Parliament to build on land that was to become Belgravia, and came into agreement with [[Thomas Cubitt]] to design an estate.<ref name=":0" /> The construction of the stucco grand terraces
[[File:Upper Belgrave Street, Belgravia - DSC05404.JPG|thumb|Upper Belgrave Street, Belgravia]]
After [[World War II]], some of the largest houses ceased to be used as residences, or [[townhouse]]s for the country gentry and aristocracy, and were increasingly occupied by embassies, charity headquarters, professional institutions and other businesses. Belgravia has become a relatively quiet district in the heart of London, contrasting with neighbouring districts, which have far more busy shops, large modern office buildings, hotels and entertainment venues. Many embassies are located in the area, especially in [[Belgrave Square]].{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}}
In the early 21st century, some houses are being reconverted to residential use, because offices in old houses are no longer as desirable as they were in the post-war decades, while the number of [[ultra high-net-worth individual|super-rich]] in London is at a high level not seen since at least 1939. The average house price in Belgravia, as of March 2010, was £6.6 million,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8552483.stm|title=Belgravia square tops expensive homes list |work=BBC News|date=8 March 2010|access-date=14 December 2017}}</ref> although many houses in Belgravia are among the most expensive anywhere in the world, costing up to £100 million, £4,761 per square foot (£51,000 per m<sup>2</sup>) as of 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/record-100m-price-tag-on-london-house-6866841.html|title=Record £100m price-tag on London house|newspaper=London Evening Standard|date=14 April 2009|access-date=5 December 2017}}</ref>
As of 2013, many residential properties in Belgravia were owned by wealthy foreigners who may have other luxury residences in exclusive locations worldwide, so many are temporarily unoccupied as their owners are elsewhere. The increase in land value has been in sharp contrast to the UK average and has left the area empty and isolated.<ref name=NYT4113>{{cite news|title=A Slice of London So Exclusive Even the Owners Are Visitors|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/world/europe/a-slice-of-london-so-exclusive-even-the-owners-are-visitors.html|access-date=2 April 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 April 2013|author=Sarah Lyall}}</ref>
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The original scheme consisted of four terraces, each made up of eleven grand white stuccoed houses, apart from the south-east terrace, which had twelve; detached mansions were in three of the corners and there was a private central garden.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}} The numbering is anti-clockwise from the north: NW terrace Nos. 1 to 11, west corner mansion No. 12, SW terrace 13–23, south corner mansion No. 24, SE terrace Nos. 25–36, east corner mansion No. 37, NE terrace Nos. 38–48.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Belgrave+Square,+Belgravia,+London+SW1X/@51.4967714,-0.1542433,305a,35y,44.89t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4876053b5f2090b5:0xd2e055784d87846e!8m2!3d51.4985699!4d-0.1542555|title=Belgrave Square, Belgravia, London|publisher=Google Maps|access-date=5 December 2017|at=Zoom around the Streetview plan to verify house numbers}}</ref>
There is also a slightly later detached house at the northern corner, No. 49, which was built by Cubitt for [[Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea|Sidney Herbert]] in 1847.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}} The terraces were designed by [[George Basevi]] (cousin of [[Benjamin Disraeli]]). The largest of the corner mansions, [[Seaford House]] in the east corner, was designed by [[Philip Hardwick]], and the one in the west corner was designed by [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]], completed
The square contains statues of [[Christopher Columbus]], [[Simón Bolívar]], [[José de San Martín]], [[Prince Henry the Navigator]], the 1st Marquess of Westminster, a bust of
===Eaton Square===
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''Flunkeyania or Belgravian Morals'', written under the pseudonym "Chawles", was one of the novels serialised in ''[[The Pearl (magazine)|The Pearl]]'', an allegedly pornographic [[Victorian era|Victorian]] magazine.<ref>{{cite web|author=Chawles, [pseud.] |url=http://www.biblio.com/books/83889816.html |title=Biblio book sales |publisher=Biblio.com |access-date=21 August 2014}}</ref>
In the popular British television series ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' (1971–1975), the scene is set in the household of Richard Bellamy (later 1st Viscount Bellamy of Haversham) at 165 Eaton Place, Belgravia (65 Eaton Place was used for exterior shots; a "1" was painted in front of the house number).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.updown.org.uk/thehouse/house1.htm |title=Upstairs, Downstairs The house 1 |access-date=15 April 2016}}</ref> It depicts the lives of the Bellamys and their staff of [[domestic servants]] in the years 1903–1930, as they experience the tumultuous events of the [[Edwardian era]], World War I and the postwar 1920s, culminating with the [[stock market crash of 1929]], which ends the world they had known. In 2010, filming began on a mini-series intended to pick up the story of one of the main characters, [[Rose Buck]], in 1936, as she returns to 165 Eaton Place to serve as the Holland family's [[housekeeper (domestic worker)|housekeeper]].
The first episode of the second series of the television programme ''[[Sherlock (TV series)|Sherlock]]'' is "[[A Scandal in Belgravia]]", loosely based on the [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] short story "[[A Scandal in Bohemia]]".<ref name="crompton">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8987577/The-timeless-appeal-of-Holmess-sexy-logic.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102095156/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8987577/The-timeless-appeal-of-Holmess-sexy-logic.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 January 2012|title=The timeless appeal of Holmes's sexy logic|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=1 January 2012|first=Sarah|last=Crompton |access-date=5 January 2012}}</ref> Moreover, Conan Doyle's friend and literary collaborator, [[Bertram Fletcher Robinson]], died in Belgravia in 1907.
''[[The Princess Switch]]'', a 2018 Netflix original movie starring [[Vanessa Hudgens]], takes place largely in the fictional kingdom of Belgravia.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Princess Switch (2018) on IMDB|website=[[IMDb]] |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8954732|access-date=26 April 2023}}</ref>
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