In recent years, Truro Cathedral has sought inventive ways of bringing people through its doors, recognising that sit-up-straight services don’t necessarily appeal to an increasingly secular society. Events have included New Year masquerade balls, concerts at which the audiences are invited to wander around and even lie down as part of the musical experience, and modern artwork from suspended planets to crumpled-up paper.

While some of these divide audiences, there can be no doubt that the son-et-lumiere spectacular that is Space by Luxmuralis – an artistic collaboration between sculptor Peter Walker and composer David Harper - was made for a location as majestic as this. Luxmuralis take art onto the streets and to unexpected places; Truro was the latest cathedral in a list including Worcester, Exeter, Durham and Wells.

Dubbed “the stained glass windows of our time”, the artwork cascades through the building, inviting us to look out into space and reflect upon what humans have achieved - art, literature, science - and our connection to Earth within the universe. Installations transform the look and feel of the nocturnal cathedral, with music and sound invigorating the senses.

From the outside, the windows glowed purple as we approached – a clue as to the delights to be found within. On the cathedral steps, chief operating officer Sean O’Neill shared his longstanding ambition to a Luxmuralis show in Truro, then the doors were opened and we were in.

The crowds wandered in wonderment, enveloped in a rich tapestry of colour and audio. The 145-year-old walls were a canvas for all manner of projections, from alpha and omega through William Shakespeare to the moon landings and galaxies beyond.

It was especially good to see St Mary’s Aisle used fully. The oldest part of the cathedral and all that remains of the parish church that preceded it, it recently had an expensive but much-needed refurb, and this felt like a real celebration of its place at the heart of the city.

The crowd seemed initially reluctant to view the building from alternative viewpoints, but it only took one person to sit down for the rest to follow suit. Lying on the floor and watching rich hues and strobe lighting playing on the ceiling, to the strains of music inspired by ancient and modern, was an immersive experience verging on transcendental.

The sense of awe it inspired was deeply moving. “Is it wrong that this makes me want to cry?” my teenage daughter asked, soulfully. “It makes me feel small, and like I want to question the whole of humanity.”

Judging by comments on social media, I think the thousands who experienced Space by Luxmuralis last week would agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment, and the combined forces behind it would consider their job well done.