Mineral-rich town makes way for the march of progress

In the far north of Sweden, 200km above the Arctic Circle, sits the church of Kiruna, once voted the most beautiful old building in the country.

- Jennifer Rankin

The cosy terracotta-coloured church is designed to resemble a hut of the indigenous Sami people. It opened in 1912, and is described by the vicar, Lena Tjärnberg, as “the living room of the community”. But if Kiruna church is to stay the same, it must go.

The entire 600-tonne wooden building will be loaded onto trailers and moved to a new spot near the local graveyard in 2026. It’s just one large piece of a project to move Kiruna 3km east because subsidence from an iron ore mine is threatening to swallow the town. Cracks have appeared in the hospital; a school is no longer safe for its pupils.

“We are more than happy that the church can move,” Tjärnberg said. “Of course, I know people can be sad. Kiruna church is a landmark here, you can see it everywhere. You can feel sad about the skyline.”