US EditionSweden Moves Kiruna's 1912 Wooden Church to New Site in Two-Day Operation
- Kiruna Church, a 672-ton, 113-year-old wooden building in northern Sweden, began a rare two-day move to a new town center in August 2025.
- The relocation responds to ground fissures from expanding iron ore mining beneath Kiruna, forcing a wider multi-decade project to shift much of the town since 2004.
- The church was carefully lifted onto remote-controlled trailers that travel slowly along a specially widened 24-meter road cleared of obstructions for the 5-km journey.
- Project manager Stefan Holmblad Johansson said, "This is a very special task for me," adding, "We don't have a margin of error" but confirmed "everything is under control."
- The move preserves a beloved landmark voted Sweden's best pre-1950 building and enables the mine operator LKAB to continue extracting ore while reshaping Kiruna for future decades.
260 Articles
260 Articles
Daily Journal
Historic Swedish church inches closer to new home
A historic red wooden church considered one of Sweden's most beautiful buildings resumed its slow move across the Arctic town of Kiruna on Wednesday, inching toward its new home to
With the help of a sophisticated technique, the historic church in Kiruna in Sweden has begun to move.
It was in 2004 that the inhabitants of Kiruna knew for the first time that their city was in danger. Below the northernmost population of Sweden, in Lapland, an iron mine opens up that threatens the stability of the buildings and its approximately 16,000 inhabitants resigned themselves to what in 2014 was defined as the mother of all the moves: the whole city would be moved three kilometers east, at the foot of the Luossavaara mountain, next to …
Swedish church moves down the road before mine swallows town
KIRUNA: How do you move one of Sweden’s most beloved wooden churches down the road? With a little bit of engineering, a lot of prayer — and some Eurovision for good luck. The Kiruna Church — called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish — and its belfry are being moved this week along a 5-kilometer route east to a new city center as part of the town’s relocation. It’s happening because the
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 45% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
