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Kiruna’s 1912 Wooden Church Reaches New Site After Two-Day, 5-Kilometer Move

The move anchors a yearslong relocation driven by ground subsidence from LKAB’s iron ore mine.

People look at the Kiruna Church, a Sami style wooden Swedish Lutheran church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, in Kiruna, Sweden, Monday, Aug. 18, 2025, a day before it will be moved along a 5-kilometer (3-mile) route east to a new city center as part of the town's relocation.(AP Photo/Malin Haarala)
FILE - People gather outside the Kiruna Church, a Sami style wooden Swedish Lutheran church, called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish, in Kiruna, Sweden, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, during its move along a 5-kilometer (3-mile) route east to a new city center as part of the town's relocation. (AP Photo/Malin Haarala, File)
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Overview

  • The 672-ton Lutheran church traveled on remote-controlled flatbed trailers at roughly 0.5 km/h, completing the relocation around 2:30 p.m. local time.
  • Engineers jacked the building onto beams and two trailer rows, bringing the convoy’s weight to about 1,200 tonnes after a year of road widening to 24 meters.
  • Crowds lined the route as SVT broadcast the move live, with King Carl XVI Gustaf attending celebrations and a record-setting "kyrkkaffe" attempt planned.
  • LKAB is funding the church relocation, estimated at 500 million kronor, and protected the organ, altarpiece and windows during transport.
  • The operation is part of shifting Kiruna’s center affecting about 3,000 homes, with the separate belltower due next week and debates ongoing over Sami reindeer routes and future mining at the EU-designated Per Geijer project.