As Syria marks one year since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, and the end of more than half a century of his dynasty's iron-fisted rule, Daraya is slowly coming back to life. Located within sight of Assad's presidential palace, it was one of the first cities to rise in protest against his government in 2011, and became a symbol of the revolution. By Assad’s ouster in 2024, Daraya was known for being the site of the civil war’s worst massacre, and the only Syrian city to have lost all i