With prayer and ingenuity a church is moved three miles

A church in Sweden is being moved three miles up the road over two days in a major operation to save it from subsidence.

- TOM LITTLE

Kiruna Church is being moved to a new location, slowly traversing an Arctic road to protect its historic wooden structure from problems caused by the expansion of the world’s largest underground iron ore mine. Weighing 600 tonnes, the 113-year-old church has been lifted from its foundations and placed onto a specially built trailer. The move is part of a broader 30-year initiative to relocate thousands of residents and buildings within the city in Swedish Lapland.

The mine operator LKAB has spent the past year preparing the route for the red-painted church, one of Sweden’s largest wooden buildings and often hailed as its most beautiful.

The three-mile winding journey will lead it to a brand new Kiruna city centre. While the move ensures the church’s survival, it marks its departure from a site it has occupied for over a century.

Lena Tjarnberg, the vicar of Kiruna, reflected on the significance: “The church is Kiruna’s soul in some way, and in some way it’s a safe place. For me, it’s like a day of joy. But I think people also feel sad because we have to leave this place.”