Shaji Karackal
It happened in a small town named Kiruna in the artic region of Sweden. The whole world was watching this historic move, made world record in viewership, and become a viral video of this wooden structured Church building moved a very slow pace. It took 2 days to cover 3 miles relocating the historic church building from its current place to the middle of the new city center.
The Kiruna Church, a 113-year-old red-painted wooden structure in Sweden’s northernmost city of Kiruna, completed a remarkable two-day, 5-kilometer (3-mile) relocation journey on August 20, 2025, to save it from ground subsidence caused by the expansion of the world’s largest underground iron ore mine, operated by the state-owned company LKAB. The move was part of a 30-year project to relocate about 3,000 homes and 6,000 residents in Kiruna, located 90 miles north of the Arctic Circle, due to the mine’s impact on the ground stability of the old city center.
The church, one of Sweden’s largest wooden buildings weighed around 750 tons, was hoisted onto two specialized remote-controlled flatbed trailers with 224 wheels, moving at a pace of about 500 meters per hour (1,600 feet/hour). Engineers monitored the structure for potential cracks during the journey, which involved navigating narrow passages and 90-degree turns.
The relocation, costing approximately 500 million Swedish kronor ($52 million), required eight years of planning. Roads were widened to 79 feet, a viaduct was demolished, and the church’s handblown glass windows were replaced with painted plywood to prevent damage. The bell tower was moved separately, with plans to reunite it with the main structure the following week.
Why this humungous project was necessary? In order to avoid swallowing up by the ground due to mining, this beloved church built in 1912, designed by architect Gustaf Wickman, the church incorporates Sami the indigenous culture-inspired elements and was voted Sweden’s most beautiful building constructed before 1950 in a 2001 poll. Its neo-Gothic exterior, Art Nouveau altarpiece by Prince Eugen, and organ with over 2,000 pipes make it a cultural landmark. The church was rotated 180 degrees at its new site near the city’s cemetery, with the altar now facing west toward the new city center.
The two-day spectacle saw the red-painted Kiruna Church, called ‘Kiruna Kyrka’ in Swedish, inch its way to a new home. Kiruna Church progressed along the 3-mile route at glacial pace of 0.31 and 0.93 miles per hour — with two brief breaks for a traditional Swedish afternoon coffee, according to the Associated Press.
Thousands of spectators braved the chilly temps to see the 131-foot-wide facade navigate the Arctic road — a road specially widened by nearly 50 feet in order to accommodate the hulking structure. Sweden’s national broadcaster even hosted a livestream of “The Great Church Walk,” which included a performance by Sweden’s 2025 Eurovision entry and a royal visit by the king of Sweden. Kiruna Church is among Sweden’s largest wooden structures, widely recognized for its beauty and distinctive design. The Lutheran church’s hilltop home above Kiruna attracted visitors and accolades for decades, until the massive mine below threatened its very existence.
The relocation, costing approximately 500 million Swedish kronor ($52 million), required eight years of planning. Roads were widened to 79 feet, a viaduct was demolished, and the church’s handblown glass windows were replaced with painted plywood to prevent damage. The bell tower was moved separately, with plans to reunite it with the main structure the following week.
The relocation, costing approximately 500 million Swedish kronor ($52 million), required eight years of planning. Roads were widened to 79 feet, a viaduct was demolished, and the church’s handblown glass windows were replaced with painted plywood to prevent damage. The bell tower was moved separately, with plans to reunite it with the main structure the following week.
Kiruna Church is 26th building to be uprooted from the old town center and wheeled out east to a new downtown, the AP reported. Its carefully choreographed move ended, blessedly, without a hitch.
Multiple outlets reported the 741-ton building arrived in one piece on Wednesday to its designated plot in the new Kiruna city center. The church doors, which closed a year ago to prepare for the move, are scheduled to reopen at the end of 2026, according to the AP.
