Deserted: Tbilisi's iconic courtyards in time of lockdown
The old town Sololaki district features typical 'inner yards' of closely built neighbourhood houses in Tbilisi. The enclosed space between the homes has brought neighbours close for socialising across ages, but they have been emptied amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
Clothes drying on lines strung between hallway balconies over a courtyard in Mtatsminda district in downtown Tbilisi. Balconies overlooking yards, as well as the yards themselves, have been central places for interaction among neighbours. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
An entrance to an 'inner yard' area in the Sololaki district. Located near the central Freedom Square in Tbilisi, the district envelops series of houses and yards build adjacently, leading to close interaction between residents. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
A mix of long-standing houses shaping the small space between them and more recent additions, this yard has been largely emptied of activities under the lockdown. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
Chairs are seen around a small table placed along with a piano in this wooden-rich 'Italian' yard in the district, but no residents to enjoy the onset of spring weather. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
The architectural style of these courtyards arose in parts of 19th century Tbilisi as a mix of influences from Persia, Russian Empire and European trends. An example of such impromptu eclectic approach is seen behind a gate with ornaments here. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
Cars are seen parked through a painted entrance to a yard in Sololaki. The Georgian government imposed a nationwide curfew and limits on private transportation throughout late March and April. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
Some of the yards are fully enclosed by wooden structures of their residential houses, while others are more open like this space between the gate and the Orientally shaped staircases and balconies. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
A small open plaza of another 'Italian' courtyard in Mtatsminda, usually full of life and socialising activities of the neighbourhood but silent in the coronavirus-related lockdown in Tbilisi. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
Drying clothes on lines and a solitary resident are the only signs of community in this courtyard in Sololaki, at the foot of Mount Mtatsminda in Tbilisi. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
A resident of this narrow 'Italian' yard in Tbilisi is seen in the otherwise deserted surroundings of the neighbourhood. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
Syringa is seen blooming under the springtime sun in this narrow alleyway of a Sololaki neighbourhood, with modern addition to a 19th century Tbilisi decorative balcony looming over. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
A larger courtyard with plants in Mtatsminda - under normal circumstances the space would be expected to be used for board games, conversations and more between neighbours. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
A large courtyard in Tbilisi with a gazebo serving as a central point of interaction and socialising among residents in safer times. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
Lockdown measures have seen a reduction in number of citizens out in the streets as well as in their immediate neighbourhoods, particularly in Tbilisi. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.
Spring sunlight casts a partial shadow on an emptied yard in Sololaki, as residents withrdaw to the relative safety of their flats amid the pandemic. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.