It has been one year to the day since the Assad dynasty’s rule in Syria ended after more than half a century - vanishing, almost overnight, into thin air.
Gone are the men in leather jackets and blank stares stationed on street corners; Bashar al-Assad’s gaze no longer looms from school façades and motorway overpasses.
In their place are new flags, fresh murals to the “martyrs of the revolution”. Syria is finally breathing again.
Yet the last year has been marked by tumultuous lows as well as unprecedented highs as the country struggles through transition.
The date of 8 December 2024 - the day Assad’s rule cracked under a lightning rebel offensive - is now etched into the memory of every Syrian.
