“Christmas preparations this year are more than excellent. There are no mortars anymore,” said Hanna al-Saad, a shop owner in the Qasaa district that was often shelled from the adjacent area of Jobar.
Abbasiyeen Square, where mortars regularly fell, and nearby parts of the city are being decked out with lighting and Christmas trees, while musicians with a local scout troop are preparing for a Christmas march not seen for years.
The eastern edge of Damascus bore the brunt of insurgent shelling until government forces recovered control of the Ghouta region in a Russian-backed offensive that the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says killed 1,600 civilians.
Following the recovery of eastern Ghouta in April, government forces moved on to take back the Yarmouk area south of the capital, bringing all Damascus back under state control.
“We had no electricity and there were no lights or decorations,” she added, expressing excitement at the sight of the decorated streets and houses this year.