This Swedish Church Is Being Moved Down The Road

The Kiruna church is relocating as the world's largest underground iron-ore mine threatens to swallow the town

- Agencies

How do you move one of Sweden's most beloved wooden churches down the road? With a little engineering, a lot of prayer—and some Eurovision for good luck.

The Kiruna Church—called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish—is being moved this week along a 5-kilometer route east as part of the town's relocation. It's happening because the world's largest underground iron-ore mine is threatening to swallow the town.

This week, thousands of visitors have descended on Kiruna, Sweden's northernmost town at 200 kilometers above the Arctic Circle. It's home to roughly 23,000 people, including members of the Sami Indigenous people, spread over nearly 19,500 square kilometers.

Lena Tjärnberg, the church's vicar, kicked off the move with a blessing Tuesday morning after the church was lifted on beams to be wheeled across town.

Thousands of spectators lined the streets, bundled up in layers for strong winds and temperatures under 10 degrees Celsius, as the church inched along for hours at a glacial pace.

The journey is scheduled to end Wednesday afternoon.

In 2001, the Swedish people voted the wooden church the "best building of all time, built before 1950" in a poll connected to the Ministry of Culture. Built on a hill so worshippers could overlook Kiruna, the Swedish Lutheran church was designed to emulate the Sami style as a gift from LKAB, the state-owned mining company.