Particle.news
Download on the App Store
18 ARTICLES
·
1h ago

Kiruna's Landmark Wooden Church Begins Two-Day, 5-Kilometer Relocation

The move reflects a broader plan to shift the Arctic town away from ground weakened by LKAB's expanding iron-ore mine.

Beams placed on an wheeled structure support 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)
Kiruna's historic wooden church sits on wheels before being moved to its new site next to the cemetery, in Kiruna, Sweden August 17, 2025. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger
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)

Overview

  • The 1912, 672-tonne structure set off after a morning blessing, traveling on remote-controlled flatbed trailers toward the new city center at a crawl over Tuesday and Wednesday.
  • LKAB is funding the estimated 500 million kronor operation after a year of preparations that widened roads from 9 to 24 meters and removed a viaduct to clear the route.
  • Sweden’s SVT is livestreaming the move, with more than 10,000 onlookers expected and King Carl XVI Gustaf in town to follow the journey.
  • The church is among dozens of buildings being relocated in a long-term shift of Kiruna’s core, with roughly 3,000 homes and about 6,000 residents affected and the belltower scheduled to move next week.
  • Sami reindeer-herding leaders warn further mine expansion, including the proposed Per Geijer rare-earth project designated by the EU as a Strategic Project, threatens migration routes and livelihoods.