Watch live: Sweden's historic 600-tonne Kiruna Church moves to new home
Kiruna Church is being relocated to save it from ground subsidence and the expansion of the world's largest underground iron ore mine.
The move, which began on Tuesday, is part of a 30-year project to relocate thousands of people and buildings from the city in the country's far north.
Footage shows the 600-tonne, 113-year-old church slowly moving down a road after it was lifted from its foundations and onto a specially built trailer.
Mine operator LKAB has spent the last year widening the road for the journey.
The red-painted church, one of Sweden's largest wooden structures and often voted its most beautiful, will travel 5km (3 miles) to a brand-new Kiruna city centre at a speed of 500 metres per hour.
People have lined the streets to watch the structure slowly move towards its new home.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
17 hours ago
- The Independent
A historic Swedish church embraces inclusion with minority languages
The members of Kiruna Church primarily worship in Swedish, their country's main language. But this Lutheran church some 200 kilometers (124 miles) above the Arctic Circle seeks to incorporate the region's minority languages — Northern Sami, Finnish and Meänkieli – into worship services, carrying on an inclusive ethos that has been a cornerstone of the historic wooden church since its founding in 1912. 'We are talking about the language of the heart,' vicar Lena Tjärnberg said. 'That's very important, that you can hear some of the words in your language.' The church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, moved 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) east on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of Kiruna's relocation because the world's largest underground iron-ore mine is threatening to swallow the town. The church closed its doors a year ago in preparation for the move. The inclusion of the minority languages — particularly the Northern Sami language with Kiruna's population of Indigenous people, including reindeer herders — reflects the church's history. The building itself was a gift to Kiruna from state-owned mining company LKAB, whose manager in the early 1900s decided that the entire community should feel welcome there even if they are not Lutheran. Its exterior was designed to emulate the Sami style, and there is only one cross in the entire structure to avoid an overemphasis on Christianity. And a 1912 altarpiece painted by Prince Eugen, a member of the Swedish royal family and a renowned landscape artist, features a sunlit forest grove to represent nature as spiritual instead of the traditional religious scenes. On Wednesday, the church settled into its new, safer home in Kiruna's revamped downtown. Worshippers are expected to be back inside by the end of next year, in a return to the pews that have carried the smell of tar to preserve the historic wood for generations. Apology to the Sami people While the Kiruna Church currently has a good relationship with the Sami people, historically the Church of Sweden was complicit in Sweden's racist campaign against Europe 's only recognized Indigenous people. The Sami culture, traditions and languages were suppressed for decades. Beginning in 1913, the church and state ran so-called 'nomad schools,' mandatory segregated boarding schools where Sami children experienced racism, bullying and abuse until the 1960s. In 2021, the archbishop delivered the first of two formal apologies to the Sami people for the Church of Sweden's role in oppressing them. 'Within the Church of Sweden, Sami spirituality was despised. Instead of recognizing the image of God in our Sami sisters and brothers, we tried to remake them in the image of the majority culture,' Archbishop Antje Jackelén said at the time. 'We did not see your obvious relationship with the Creator and with the lands. We did not understand that Sami spirituality expresses itself in everyday actions.' A truth commission, set up by the Swedish government in 2021, is expected to address the nomad schools' lasting trauma on the Sami people and conclude its work by Dec. 1. 'All your life until you get old' On a typical Sunday, 40 to 50 people sat in the pews — though more always crowd inside for weddings and funerals. Anna-Kristina Simma, a worshipper who is a member of the Sami people and grew up going to the Kiruna Church, said it is a mainstay in everyone's life in this part of Swedish Lapland, even if they aren't going to weekly services. 'You start from when you were a child, a baby, all your life until you get old," she said. Monica Nutti Blind, a deacon in the church who also is a member of the Sami people, said the church's architecture reminds her of the area's seasons. The dark wood inside is like the long, dark northern Swedish winters, she said, but the windows allow the summer's Midnight Sun to brighten everything. 'If you look up in the church, you see the light that reminds of spring and the light and the vegetation,' she said. Final service before the move On Sunday, two days before the move began, the church held a lakeside service 87 kilometers (54 miles) northeast of its historic location. With a fire burning to keep the bugs away, six worshippers bundled up in hiking boots, long coats and hats to keep warm amid temperatures hovering around 10 degrees Celsius (50 degrees Fahrenheit). The small summer congregation, seated on wooden benches or camping chairs, sang from hymnals and listened to Nutti Blind as she read a passage from the Book of Proverbs in the Northern Sami language. The verse reminded the community of its responsibility to be good neighbors. But before the 35-minute service concluded — with an early fika, the traditional Swedish coffee break — the worshippers paused to reflect upon the upcoming move. Nutti Blind offered a prayer, this time in Swedish, for their spiritual home's safety. 'We pray for the move of the Kiruna Church, that the church will be preserved and that the move goes well,' she prayed. 'And that we once again will use this beautiful church.' ___ Pietro De Cristofaro in Kiruna, Sweden, contributed to this report. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
The Independent
21 hours ago
- The Independent
Watch live: Sweden's historic 600-tonne Kiruna Church moves to new home
Watch live as an entire church in Sweden continues its move to its new home on Wednesday, 20 August. Kiruna Church is being relocated to save it from ground subsidence and the expansion of the world's largest underground iron ore mine. The move, which began on Tuesday, is part of a 30-year project to relocate thousands of people and buildings from the city in the country's far north. Footage shows the 600-tonne, 113-year-old church slowly moving down a road after it was lifted from its foundations and onto a specially built trailer. Mine operator LKAB has spent the last year widening the road for the journey. The red-painted church, one of Sweden's largest wooden structures and often voted its most beautiful, will travel 5km (3 miles) to a brand-new Kiruna city centre at a speed of 500 metres per hour. People have lined the streets to watch the structure slowly move towards its new home.
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Historic church begins two-day journey across Swedish city
An historic church in Sweden is being moved three miles in a two day big wooden church in the city of Kiruna was built between 1909 and the old city centre at risk from the expansion of an underground mine, the church is the biggest structure to be moved. It weighs 600 tonnes and is being moved slowly on a specially constructed at a maximum speed of 500m an hour, the journey is expected to take two days. While the sight of the church being moved might look strange, it is not the only landmark to be relocated. Read on to learn about more unusual moves from bridges to temples. Abu Simbel temples, Egypt In the early 1960s a team of engineers carefully disassembled, and piece by piece moved each of these ancient temples in the construction of a dam the Abu Simbel Temples were at risk of flooding from the Nile river's rising waters. Unesco, a part of the United Nations which looks after very old sites like this launched the project to save the temples which were built in the 13th Century BC.A group of hydrologists, engineers, archaeologists and other professionals cut both temples into precise blocks which were then numbered and carefully reassembled on higher ground. London Bridge, USA Ah yes the famous London Bridge of... Arizona!? In fact there have been many London Bridges, but this one was built in the 1830s and crossed the river Thames in London England. By 1962 it was considered not strong enough to carry the increased traffic so was sold to a property developer who was creating a city in Arizona, USA. While it looks the same it was only the outer stones which were transported overseas, each one carefully numbered, to cover the structure. At first the new bridge crossed desert with a canal later constructed so it crossed water. Ballingdon Hall, UK Moving house took on a new meaning when the owners of Ballingdon Hall in Suffolk decided to move the entire house to a different location. With the A131 road improved and the nearby town of Sudbury getting busier, the owners wanted a different in 1972, the 16th century manor house was moved around 200 yards up the other buildings, because the house was protected the only way it could be moved was in one whole thing was put on steel joists with wheels underneath and wheeled up the hill.
