Durham Cathedral: Illuminated Earth artwork draws 140,000 visitors

More than 140,000 people have visited Durham Cathedral to see an illuminated planet Earth hanging in the nave.

The artwork Gaia by Luke Jerram was visiting the city for nine weeks with visitors encouraged to reflect on how humans treat the planet.

One-off sessions such as yoga classes and silent discos also saw more than 1,400 people making a booking.

The Revd Canon Charlie Allen said it had been "a striking and poignant focal point within the cathedral".

He said: "Gaia has encouraged visitors and the local community to gaze in awe at the planet we call home - and to lament the ways in which we have failed to care for it.

"We hope that Gaia will have inspired us all to take seriously the challenge of climate crisis and to reflect on how we can live differently so that future generations may enjoy the abundance we so easily take for granted."

The seven-metre diameter (23ft) globe has toured the world, including visits to Hong Kong, London and Taiwan.

It was the second time an artwork by Luke Jerram had been suspended in the cathedral - his work Moon was displayed in 2021.

Gaia saw visitor numbers to the cathedral increase by 72% over the same period in 2022.

A spokeswoman said income from the events and visitor donations would be used to support the cathedral's conservation and allow the world heritage centre site attraction to remain free to enter.

Andrew Usher, who is in charge of visitor experience at Durham Cathedral said: "We have loved seeing the reactions of our visitors as they entered the cathedral and caught their first glimpse of Gaia.

"Whatever people's motivations for visiting Gaia, we hope the installation and the cathedral setting achieved the goal for our visitors to pause and reflect on our home planet and the current climate crisis we face."

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