Watch: Swedish church sets off on three-mile road trip to new city centre

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 five-kilometre (three-mile) route east to a new city centre as part of the town’s relocation.

The world’s largest underground iron-ore mine is threatening to swallow the town, meaning the church and the rest of the town need to be moved.

Beams placed on a wheeled structure support the Kiruna Church (Malin Haarala/AP)

This week, thousands of visitors have descended upon Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost town, at 200 kilometres (124 miles) above the Arctic Circle.

It’s home to roughly 23,000 inhabitants, including members of the Sami Indigenous people, spread over nearly 19,500 square kilometres (7,528 square feet).

Lena Tjarnberg, the church’s vicar, kicked off the move with a blessing on Tuesday morning.

The church’s move is expected to last until Wednesday afternoon.

This week’s move has turned into a two-day, highly choreographed media spectacle, run by LKAB, the state-owned mining company, and featuring an appearance by Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf.

Musical performances will include a set from KAJ, Sweden’s 2025 Eurovision entry, who had been the bookies’ favourite to win this year’s contest.

The church’s relocation has become a media spectacle, with a visit from the king and performances from Eurovision stars (Malin Haarala/AP)

Known for both the Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights, Kiruna and the surrounding area are a major draw year-round for visitors to Swedish Lapland.

But not everyone is thrilled about LKAB’s extravaganza.

Lars-Marcus Kuhmunen, chairman of one of the Sami reindeer herding organisations in Kiruna, said LKAB’s plans for a new mine could threaten reindeer migration routes and imperil the livelihood of herders in the area.

The move of Kiruna’s town centre, including the church, has been in the works since 2004.

As the mine expanded deeper underground, residents began seeing cracks in buildings and roads. In order to reach a new depth of 1,365 meters (4,478 feet) — and to prevent Kiruna from being swallowed up — officials began moving buildings to a new downtown at a safe distance from the mine.

As of July, 25 buildings had been lifted up onto beams and wheeled east. Sixteen, including the church, remain.

Engineers have widened a road to 80 feet and dismantled a viaduct in order to facilitate the move (Malin Haarala/AP)

At approximately 40 meters (131 feet) wide with a weight of 672 metric tons (741 tons), the church required extra effort. Engineers widened a major road from nine metres to 24 metres (30 to 79 feet) and dismantled a viaduct to make way for a new intersection.

A driver, using a large control box, is piloting the church through the route as it travels roughly 12 hours over Tuesday and Wednesday, with a pause each day for fika, the traditional Swedish afternoon coffee break.

It’s expected to move at a varying pace between 0.5 and 1.5 kilometres per hour (0.31 and 0.93 miles per hour).

Stefan Holmblad Johansson, LKAB’s project manager for the move, would not say how much it has cost the mining company.