The Kiruna Church – called Kiruna Kyrka in Swedish – and its belfry are being moved this week along a 5km route east to a new city centre as part of the town’s relocation.

The relocation will be live-streamed, and a variety of activities are planned in conjunction with the event.

“We want to create something that makes everyone feel included and that serves as a heartfelt farewell to the church’s original location,” says Stefan Holmblad Johansson, project manager for the church relocation at LKAB, the state-owned mining company.

Kiruna Church has been named Sweden’s most beautiful building and holds great cultural and historical value. Now, the church and its accompanying bell tower will be relocated, some weeks apart. The reason is the mining operations in LKAB’s iron ore mine, which are affecting the area considered the old town centre, where the church is currently situated.

Kiruna Church will be the largest building to be moved as part of the urban transformation that began planning over 20 years ago and has received worldwide attention. So far, 23 cultural buildings have been relocated. The church relocation will be livestreamed and is accompanied by various activities during the event.

“This is an important and carefully planned move, and we are approaching the finish line. The church is truly unique and means a lot to many people beyond just being a landmark of Kiruna, and we want to give everyone the opportunity to follow and be a part of this historic event,” says Stefan Holmblad Johansson.

The church has been thoroughly examined from a relocation perspective to ensure its cultural values are preserved in the best possible way, including ensuring that the altarpiece and organ are moved with great care.

The church building, which is about 40 metres wide and weighs 600 tons, will be loaded onto a trailer and moved in its entirety along a relocation route that will be approximately 5 kilometres long and 24 metres wide. Preparatory work to widen the roads has been ongoing for a year.

The new location, situated between the cemetery and the new town centre, has been carefully selected in close dialogue with the parish, the municipality, and the County Administrative Board. A cohesive setting will be created, as more buildings, such as the parish hall and other cultural buildings, will also be moved.

“It feels significant and wonderful that the church will be moving to its new location and coming home. Throughout this entire journey, we have had a good dialogue with LKAB and the municipality, and now we long for and look forward to reopening the church and having a vibrant parish life in the new location,” says Lena Tjärnberg, vicar of the Kiruna parish.

“Moving the Kiruna Church, a building of such dignity, is a historic event both for Kiruna and for the entire country. It has always been a safe haven and a beautiful structure that we are all proud of. We are happy to be able to offer a fantastic new location near Kiruna’s new city centre, where the building can continue to shine. It will be incredibly exciting to follow the church’s relocation,” says Mats Taaveniku, chairman of the Municipal Council in Kiruna.

Veidekke has been commissioned to relocate the church and its bell tower and is also responsible for constructing the relocation route as well as performing groundwork and infrastructure tasks, including laying the foundation for the church at its new site. After the actual move, further work will involve setting up the church and bell tower on the new plot and restoring both the relocation route and the original site.

“It’s a very inspiring and honourable task to take care of these buildings that are so dear to everyone’s hearts. And it’s exciting that the actual moving days are getting closer,” says Mathias Rönnholm, regional manager of Veidekke Anläggning Nord.