With music thumping on his car speakers, Damascus resident Abdallah drove up the palm-lined road to Bashar al-Assad’s palace in the Syrian capital on Sunday morning. He reached the entrance, turned off the music, and sauntered into the heart of power of a dynasty that had ruled his country with an iron fist for more than 50 years.

Inside the marble halls Syrians roamed in jeans and hoodies, taking in the surreal scenes of ornate furniture broken and piled in corners. “I still can’t believe it,” said Abdallah, who spent the night in terror amid heavy bombing until rebels announced just before dawn they had full control of the capital, ushering in the demise of the Assad regime.

“No one has suffered as much as the Syrian people,” he told the Financial Times in a phone call and shared videos of his journey. “The entire city has risen up in joy — everyone is in the streets, shouting, shooting.”