One in all Sweden’s most well-known wood church buildings is being moved to a brand new web site – to forestall it from being swallowed by the world’s largest underground iron-ore mine.
The Kiruna Church, referred to as Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, and its belfry, are being moved this week alongside a three-mile route east to a brand new metropolis centre.
They’re the newest buildings to be moved from the present location of Kiruna – Sweden’s northernmost metropolis, which is round 124 miles contained in the Arctic Circle.
Town has a inhabitants of round 23,000 individuals, together with members of the Indigenous Sami group, dwelling throughout an space of almost 7,528 sq. miles.
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The church can be reopened within the new location on the finish of 2026.
This week, 1000’s of holiday makers have descended upon the town to observe and participate within the transferring of the church.
The church’s vicar, Lena Tjarnberg, kicked off the transfer with a blessing on Tuesday morning. The transfer is anticipated to take till Wednesday afternoon.
The relocation of the church has turn into a meticulously deliberate two-day media occasion, organised by LKAB, the state-owned mining firm, and highlighted by an look from Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf.
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Kiruna’s historic wood church sits on wheels earlier than being moved to its new web site. Pic: Reuters
It’s going to characteristic a music present, together with a efficiency by KAJ, Sweden’s 2025 Eurovision consultant, who had been the bookmakers’ prime decide to win this 12 months’s competitors, however completed fourth behind Austria, Israel and Estonia.
Stefan Holmblad Johansson, LKAB’s venture supervisor for the transfer, wouldn’t say how a lot the transfer had value the mining firm.
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Picture:
A specifically designed trolley with 224 wheels is transporting the church. Pic: TT Information/Reuters
The transfer of Kiruna’s centre, together with the church, has been within the works since 2004. Because the close by mine expanded deeper underground, residents started seeing cracks in buildings and roads.
With the intention to attain a brand new depth of 1,365 meters (4,478 toes) – and to forestall Kiruna from being swallowed up – officers started transferring buildings to a brand new downtown at a protected distance from the mine.
As of July, 25 buildings had been lifted onto beams and wheeled east. Sixteen, together with the church, stay.
The Sami reindeer herding organisations in Kiruna have warned {that a} new mine might threaten reindeer migration routes and imperil the livelihood of herders within the space.
