“No day shall erase you from the memory of time,” reads an inscription at the the Ground Zero national September 11 memorial and museum, quoting from The Aeneid and cast in 15in letters made from the steel of the twin towers, which fell 29 minutes apart in a terrorist attack a quarter century ago.It took a decade for the 9/11 memorial in downtown Manhattan to be completed. It is composed of two dark granite basins on the footprints of the original towers with water cascading from their lips and the names of all 2,977 who died as a result of four aircraft hijackings inscribed on bronze panels around it.In the 15 years since, the memorial has served as a place of remembrance and, perhaps for some, as a place of secular pilgrimage to honor, identify and remember the lives lost in the terrorist attacks.Last week, many gathered at the memorials from all over the US and the world. A security guard who has worked the eight-acre site for a decade said that around this time of year the atmosphere becomes more solemn. Many visitors said they felt compelled to come to pay their respects. One said it was a part of a cruise ship itinerary. A man from Sligo, Ireland, recalled that he used to drink at O’Hara’s on nearby Cedar St when tower two was still under construction in the early 1970s.A worker at the 9/11 memorial and museum cleans of one of the reflecting pools on 3 September 2026, in New York City. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesThe towers, part of a seven-building World Trade Center commercial complex intended to revitalize lower Manhattan and centralize international trade, stood for barely three decades, but for many they came to symbolize American dynamism and power.“It holds a certain significance to the city’s identity,” said Kosta Athanasellis, visiting from Toronto. He said he had also heard great things about Greenwich Village. The memorial, he said, “definitely brings a wave of melancholy. What happened here caused an uproar all over the world.”Sara Salehi had a professor whose brother had died here. She recalled that a family member later committed suicide, traumatized by watching the attack and its aftermath. “All those people now are like little sparkles in the water,” she said, observing the shimmer of droplets caught in the sunlight.Also reflecting on the events 25 years ago was Andrea Cemal, 56. She was on her way to work in Buenos Aires, Argentina, when the news of the attack broke. “I think about how sad I was and how everybody was so moved in my country so far away from here. The images of those planes impacting on the building were so terrible. I feel the pain of all those souls.”“It’s an example of what’s wrong in the world,” said Cemal. Her daughter, a student of international relations, said the memorial was a reminder of what wars had become with terrorism folded into the way they were fought. “In the current mixed wars and hybrid wars we see more civilians being lost to violence and that sometimes goes unnoticed,” she said.A man places roses at the 9/11 memorial and museum on 23 August 2026 in New York City. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesPamela Isaac, 70, said she had worked in a brokerage nearby for many years. She was in bed watching the news at home in Queens when the attack came on TV. “I really didn’t understand what was going on,” she said. “Things were very different after that.”She said she hadn’t visited the area since. “I didn’t want to come before. I felt the need to come to pay my respects to the people I’d been watching in a CNN documentary.” The sense of pilgrimage in coming to the memorial was not solely for Americans. “It’s sad, because all types passed away here,” she said.A young woman visiting from Morocco, who declined to offer her name, said she had felt the need to pay her respects. “It’s one of the most talked accidents,” she said, “and it’s impacted everyone a lot, especially me as Muslim. It’s so sad for the people who lost their lives, but it really destroyed a lot more than just a building. It was like when you throw a stone in the water.”Nadia Boggette, from Spain, said she was moved to see white carnations placed in inscriptions of the victims on their birthday. “It’s very lovely.” The memorial, she added, was “peaceful and sad at the same time”.“The crowd seems silent,” said Anthony Knecht from Greenville, South Carolina. “It was a very sad, eerie time in history.” He said it had been “terrible and shocking” to see the faces of those who lost their lives in the museum but “also important to see”. On that day, he said, a roommate came in to say America was being attacked. “I was like, ‘No shit.’ Now we have this memorial. It’s 25 years later, but what has changed? This terrible thing happened, but those organizations that paid for it are still there.”An US flag flies at the 9/11 memorial and museum on 25 August 2026 in New York City. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty ImagesGina and Steve Hutt from Dallas, Texas, said it was important to come. A pilgrimage? “No, that would be the wrong word. You have to pay respects,” Gina said. But she doubted that it had changed politics. “You can call anyone a zealot if you want to. People say all kinds of things but no one really knows why they did what they did. I don’t think it was to do with the administration. George W Bush suffered a lot for it because of his dad [George HW, who had served as CIA director and later president].”Michael Tarney 78, from Sligo, Ireland, said it was like a pilgrimage for him to visit the memorial.Tarney reflected on what had taken place. He’d watched a documentary on the disaster the previous evening. “They said it created the world for the 21st century. It was the biggest event, I suppose somewhat similar to the Titanic in 1912. Shocking and with a very personal touch.”Joseph Krings, a film editor from Brooklyn, had stopped by on his way to a Labor Day march. “I don’t come here very often because it’s heavy. It’s a very somber feeling you get when you come here.” Krings said it was not a personal pilgrimage to visit the memorial, he just had time to kill. “I’m sure it would be a pilgrimage for some people, but I don’t do pilgrimages of any sort. But I think it’s beautiful and I love that it’s here.”