Sweden is moving one of its most beloved wooden churches 5 kilometres down the road to save it from being swallowed by the world's largest underground iron-ore mine. The Kiruna Church and its belfry began their carefully orchestrated journey Tuesday morning with a blessing from vicar Lena Tjärnberg, scheduled to conclude Wednesday afternoon.
The 672-metric-ton church, measuring approximately 40 metres wide, requires extraordinary precision to navigate the route. Built in 1912 as a gift from state-owned mining company LKAB, the Swedish Lutheran church sits on beams and wheels as it travels at just 0.5 to 1.5 kilometres per hour.
Engineering marvel
Engineers widened the major road from 9 metres to 24 metres and dismantled a viaduct to create a new intersection for the massive structure. A driver using a large control box pilots the church through the 12-hour journey, complete with traditional Swedish afternoon coffee breaks each day.
The move became necessary as the Kiruna mine expands to a new depth of 1,365 metres, causing cracks in buildings and roads above. Since 2004, officials have relocated 25 buildings to a safe distance from the mine, with 16 structures including the church still remaining.
Cultural treasure
The wooden church won Sweden's "best building of all time, built before 1950" in a 2001 Ministry of Culture poll. Designed to emulate Sami style and built on a hill overlooking Kiruna, it stands as the town's most distinctive building in the Arctic Circle, 200 kilometres above it.
Only BBC reports that Prince Eugen's altar painting is glued directly to the masonry wall and cannot be removed without damage. Tjärnberg described the final service at the old location as bittersweet: "The last day you go down the stairs and close the church door, you know it's going to be several years before you can open it -- and in a new place. We don't know how it's going to feel to open the door."
International spectacle
Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf is attending the highly choreographed move, which features musical performances including Sweden's 2025 Eurovision entry KAJ. SVT, Sweden's national broadcaster, is livestreaming the event as "The Great Church Walk," capitalising on the success of their popular "Great Moose Migration" show.
British tourists Anita and Don Haymes changed their itinerary specifically to witness the historic move. "It's an amazing feat that they are doing," Anita Haymes said. "It'll be interesting to see it moving, unbelievable."
Only BBC reports that LKAB is covering the entire city relocation cost, estimated at over 10 billion Swedish krona. Project manager Stefan Holmblad Johansson would not disclose the specific cost of moving the church.
Sources used: "AP", "BBC" Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
