Photos and Videos

Travel Weekly reporter Michelle Baran had an opportunity to tour the 9/11 memorial site before it opens to the public next month. 1 World Trade Center, formerly known as the Freedom Tower, will be the tallest skyscraper in New York when completed.

Another view of 1 World Trade Center.

The 2,982 names of the people killed on 9/11 and Feb. 26, 1993, are inscribed on the perimeters of the memorial pools, set within the original footprints of the towers. Above, the south pool without water.

Putting the finishing touches on the memorial plaza, which will open to family members of victims on Sept. 11 and to the public on Sept. 12.

Testing the fountains in the north pool. The water will flow into a seemingly bottomless center cavity, symbolizing the enormity of the loss.

All the trees in the memorial plaza are oak, except for this one, a Callory Pear tree, also known as the "survivor tree." The Parks Department rescued it from the rubble following 9/11. It had been reduced to a stump, but has since sprouted new branches.