Swedish church sets off on 5km road trip to new city centre before iron-ore mine swallows town
The world's largest underground iron-ore mine is threatening to swallow the town, meaning the church and the rest of the town need to be moved.
This week, thousands of visitors have descended upon Kiruna, Sweden's northernmost town, at 200km (124 miles) above the Arctic Circle.
It's home to roughly 23,000 inhabitants, including members of the Sami Indigenous people, spread over nearly 19,500 square kilometres (7,528 square miles).
Lena Tjarnberg, the church's vicar, kicked off the move with a blessing on Tuesday morning.
The church's move is expected to last until Wednesday afternoon.
This week's move has turned into a two-day, highly choreographed media spectacle, run by LKAB, the state-owned mining company, and featuring an appearance by Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf.
Musical performances will include a set from KAJ, Sweden's 2025 Eurovision entry, who had been the bookies' favourite to win this year's contest.
Known for both the Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights, Kiruna and the surrounding area are a major draw year-round for visitors to Swedish Lapland.
But not everyone is thrilled about LKAB's extravaganza.
Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen, chairman of one of the Sami reindeer herding organisations in Kiruna, said LKAB's plans for a new mine could threaten reindeer migration routes and imperil the livelihood of herders in the area.
The move of Kiruna's town centre, including the church, has been in the works since 2004.
As the mine expanded deeper underground, residents began seeing cracks in buildings and roads. In order to reach a new depth of 1,365 metres (4,478 feet) — and to prevent Kiruna from being swallowed up — officials began moving buildings to a new downtown at a safe distance from the mine.
As of July, 25 buildings had been lifted up onto beams and wheeled east. Sixteen, including the church, remain.
At approximately 40 metres (131 feet) wide with a weight of 672 tonnes (741 tons), the church required extra effort. Engineers widened a major road from nine metres to 24 metres (30 to 79 feet) and dismantled a viaduct to make way for a new intersection.
A driver, using a large control box, is piloting the church through the route as it travels roughly 12 hours over Tuesday and Wednesday, with a pause each day for fika, the traditional Swedish afternoon coffee break.
It's expected to move at a varying pace between 0.5 and 1.5 kilometres per hour.
Stefan Holmblad Johansson, LKAB's project manager for the move, would not say how much it has cost the mining company.
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RTÉ News
6 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Historic Swedish church arrives at new home after two-day journey
A landmark Swedish church in the Arctic has arrived at its new home after a two-day move across the town of Kiruna to allow Europe's biggest underground mine to expand. The red wooden Kiruna Kyrka, which dates from 1912 and weighs 672 tonnes, completed its five-kilometre journey around 2.30 pm (1.30pm Irish time). A musical fanfare celebrated its arrival after a complex, meticulously choreographed relocation that began yesterday on two remote-controlled flatbed trailers inching forward at a pace of half a kilometre an hour. Kiruna's entire town centre is being relocated because of the giant LKAB iron ore mine, whose ever deeper burrowing over the years has weakened the ground. A stone's throw from where the structure was inching into place next to the town's cemetery, Lutheran vicar Lena Tjarnberg held a church service for dignitaries in a tent resembling a "laavu", the traditional tent of the region's Indigenous Sami people. "Our beloved, beloved church began its journey yesterday from its unbelievably beloved location. Now it is on its way home," she said. The journey went smoothly for the 1,200-tonne convoy, despite some tricky narrow passages and 90 degree turns, officials said. "Everything has gone so incredibly well," project manager Roy Griph told Swedish television SVT, which broadcast the entire move live. The relocation has generated widespread interest, with large crowds thronging the streets of the town of 18,000 people. The country's King Carl XVI Gustaf took part in festivities, exchanging a few words with driver Sebastian Druker of Argentina who controlled the trailers remotely with a joystick. The 79-year-old king was also expected to take part in an attempt to break the world record for the number of people attending a "kyrkkaffe", a church coffee break. The town's relocation process began almost two decades ago and is expected to continue for years to come. The new town centre was inaugurated in September 2022. Criticism The company offered to financially compensate those affected by the town's relocation, or rebuild their homes or buildings. A total of 23 historic buildings, including the church, were moved. Yet many Kiruna residents are unhappy. Alex Johansson and Magnus Fredriksson, who host a podcast on local Kiruna news, were critical of the mining company. "LKAB maybe didn't read the room so well when they destroyed the whole town and then they stage this huge street party for the people," Mr Fredriksson told television broadcaster SVT, watching as the church rolled slowly down the road. "It's like they said 'Here's some storage space for you, Kiruna. Now we're going to continue raking in the billions from here'," Mr Johansson added. They were happy the church had at least been saved. "It's good that it didn't end up as woodchips like the rest of Kiruna," Mr Fredriksson said. Iron ore, rare earths LKAB, which is extracting iron ore at a depth of 1,365 metres, announced in 2023 that it had discovered Europe's largest known deposit of rare earth elements right next to the Kiruna mine. Rare earths are essential for the green transition, used in the manufacturing of electric vehicles. LKAB chief executive Jan Mostrom said the deposit was "very important for Europe", as the continent seeks to reduce its dependence on imports from China. "We are quite focused to see how we will continue to expand our operations in Kiruna," he said. Activists argue the mining operations destroy the area's pristine forests and lakes and disturb traditional Sami reindeer herding in the area. The relocation of the church alone was expected to cost LKAB some 500 million kronor (over €44 million). Designed by Swedish architect Gustaf Wickman, the church, which measures 40m tall, is a mix of influences and includes designs inspired by the region's Indigenous Sami people on the pews. The neo-Gothic exterior features slanting roofs and windows on each side, while its dark interior has elements of national romanticism as well as an Art Nouveau altarpiece and an organ with more than 2,000 pipes. The church's handblown glass windows were removed ahead of the move, replaced with painted plywood. The belltower, which stood separately next to the church, will be moved next week.
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
‘The big church move': Sweden puts entire historic building on trailers and slowly rolls it 5km
After eight years of planning, an estimated cost of €42 million and an early-morning blessing, a church in northern Sweden began a slow-motion 5km journey on Tuesday to make way for the expansion of Europe's biggest underground mine. The 672-tonne Kiruna Kyrka, a Swedish Lutheran church inaugurated in 1912, is to be slowly rolled to its new home over two days, at a pace of 500 metres an hour. In a huge multi-decade operation, the whole of the Arctic town is being moved as an iron-ore mine operated by the state-owned mining company LKAB weakens the ground, threatening to swallow the town. More than 10,000 people, including the Swedish king, Carl XVI Gustaf, are expected to line the streets – which have been widened especially to accommodate the church – to see the move of the red wooden building. READ MORE The operation was tested successfully on a 30-metre stretch over the weekend. In the latest version of 'slow TV', dozens of cameras have been set up along the route to enable people across Sweden and the world to watch what is being billed by the broadcaster SVT as 'Den stora kyrkflytten' ('The big church move'). The church, designed by Gustaf Wickman, is one of Sweden's most-loved older buildings. It is known for its architecture that resembles a lávvu (a Sámi hut). On Wednesday, a church service and coffee event will be held in an attempt to break a world record for church coffee. There will also be musical entertainment, including a concert with the singer Carola. The church is expected to reopen at its new location at the end of next year, but the city's entire relocation is not expected to be completed until 2035. The church is one of 23 cultural buildings being relocated in what LKAB has described as 'a unique event in world history'. The mine's operator gave residents the option to either financially compensate those affected by the town's relocation or rebuild homes or buildings. The expansion has attracted criticism, including from some Sámi people who fear that fragmentation of the land will make reindeer herding more difficult. 'When it came to the church, we decided it was best to move it in one piece. We saw the value in that,' the LKAB project manager, Stefan Holmblad Johansson, told the AFP news agency. 'It is with great reverence we have undertaken this project. This is not just any building; it's a church.' The altarpiece, a pastel landscape by the late Swedish Prince Eugen, and the pipe organ, which has more than 2,000 pipes, have been carefully wrapped for the journey, and the ground around the church's former location dug out so that beams could be placed underneath. 'The church is sitting on a beam system, then two rows of trailers were brought in,' Mr Holmblad Johansson said. These were slid underneath the beams. The bell tower, which is a separate structure, will be moved next week. – The Guardian
Irish Independent
a day ago
- Irish Independent
Swedish church sets off on 5km road trip to new city centre before iron-ore mine swallows town
The Kiruna Church — called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish — and its belfry are being moved this week along a 5km (three-mile) route east to a new city centre as part of the town's relocation. The world's largest underground iron-ore mine is threatening to swallow the town, meaning the church and the rest of the town need to be moved. This week, thousands of visitors have descended upon Kiruna, Sweden's northernmost town, at 200km (124 miles) above the Arctic Circle. It's home to roughly 23,000 inhabitants, including members of the Sami Indigenous people, spread over nearly 19,500 square kilometres (7,528 square miles). Lena Tjarnberg, the church's vicar, kicked off the move with a blessing on Tuesday morning. The church's move is expected to last until Wednesday afternoon. This week's move has turned into a two-day, highly choreographed media spectacle, run by LKAB, the state-owned mining company, and featuring an appearance by Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf. Musical performances will include a set from KAJ, Sweden's 2025 Eurovision entry, who had been the bookies' favourite to win this year's contest. Known for both the Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights, Kiruna and the surrounding area are a major draw year-round for visitors to Swedish Lapland. But not everyone is thrilled about LKAB's extravaganza. Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen, chairman of one of the Sami reindeer herding organisations in Kiruna, said LKAB's plans for a new mine could threaten reindeer migration routes and imperil the livelihood of herders in the area. The move of Kiruna's town centre, including the church, has been in the works since 2004. As the mine expanded deeper underground, residents began seeing cracks in buildings and roads. In order to reach a new depth of 1,365 metres (4,478 feet) — and to prevent Kiruna from being swallowed up — officials began moving buildings to a new downtown at a safe distance from the mine. As of July, 25 buildings had been lifted up onto beams and wheeled east. Sixteen, including the church, remain. At approximately 40 metres (131 feet) wide with a weight of 672 tonnes (741 tons), the church required extra effort. Engineers widened a major road from nine metres to 24 metres (30 to 79 feet) and dismantled a viaduct to make way for a new intersection. A driver, using a large control box, is piloting the church through the route as it travels roughly 12 hours over Tuesday and Wednesday, with a pause each day for fika, the traditional Swedish afternoon coffee break. It's expected to move at a varying pace between 0.5 and 1.5 kilometres per hour. Stefan Holmblad Johansson, LKAB's project manager for the move, would not say how much it has cost the mining company.
