Two reflecting pools -- one in each footprint of the original towers -- two waterfalls, more than 400 trees and of course the names of the nearly 3,000 who perished in the 1993 and 2001 terrorist attacks are etched in bronze panels surrounding the pools.
Visiting the memorial is free but advance tickets for a specific time and date are required. As of Monday morning, the next available date for passes is Oct. 18. The memorial restricts the number of visitors to about 1,500 at a time.
The memorial's website details what to know before you go.
--Visitors should expect to be screened by magnetometers or even patted down. Anything you bring (and there are restrictions on what you can bring inside) will be X-rayed or hand-checked.
--Tribute items may be brought in and placed near the pools or the inscribed names (nothing is to be thrown into the pools, however).
Robert Peraza, 68, had been selected as a reader at the tenth anniversary ceremony Sunday, but before the memorial opened to family members, Peraza took a moment to walk near the memorial's North Pool around 9:45 a.m.
It was there that he found his son's name: Robert David Peraza, who was killed when American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center. Peraza had been working on the 104th floor of the North Tower.
"It was very, very emotional," he said.
Peraza, thinking he was alone, bent down on one knee, placed one hand over his son's name and prayed.
"I was just honoring Rob," said Peraza, who is Catholic. "I was saying a prayer for his soul."
Robert Peraza Becomes the Face of Grief on 9/11 Anniversary
Justin Lane, a press pool photographer, took Peraza's picture and it soon appeared around the world, showing up today on the cover of the Washington Post, the New York Daily News, and the New York Post to name a few.
Robert Peraza's son Neil Peraza, 38, a finance and accounting director at Hilton, had brought his 7-year-old daughter to New York to attend the anniversary ceremony. They were waiting in the area designated for family members along with Robert Peraza's wife, brother, and two cousins.
The next thing you know my cell phone would not stop buzzing," Neil Peraza said. "My wife said, 'You have got to see this picture.'"
When he saw his father kneeling in front of his brother's name, the image told him more than words ever could have.
"I was like, 'Oh my god.' It was breathtaking. It kind of sums up how a lot of us were feeling," he said. "My heart breaks for my dad and my mom -- the two of them especially. As a parent now myself, I cannot imagine losing a child."
Neil Peraza and his father are both quick to say 30-year-old Rob Peraza did not "die" on 9/11. They say he was murdered.
"It was a murderous act that happened on 9/11 and we should not forget that," said Robert Peraza, who is now retired from his job as a systems manager at Proctor and Gamble.
Neil Peraza described his brother Rob as "the life of the party," an outgoing, gregarious guy with an infectious laugh.
Rob Peraza had been scheduled to run the New York City Marathon in 2001, and assigned number 1461. He never got to run that race, but in the 10 years since 9/11 a relative has run the race using his number. This year it will be his sister, Joan.
Had Rob seen the picture of his father taken Sunday, Neil said, "I'm sure Rob would be really sad because we're all sad. But I think Rob would be really proud that as a family we're celebrating his life every day."
The Perazas revisited the 9/11 memorial today when it opened to the public, and paused once more in front of the North Pool, to pay their respects to all 2,753 people who died after two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center.
"After 9/11 my wife and I realized that life continues and you have two children you have to live for," Robert Peraza said. "Rob was the kind of young man who would have been very upset if my wife and I wilted.
All about: September 11
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