'Best Building of All Time' Makes a Very Slow Move

How do you move one of Sweden's most beloved wooden churches down the road? The Kiruna Church—"Kiruna Kyrka" in Swedish—and its belfry are being moved this week along a 3-mile route east to a new city center as part of the town's relocation. It's happening because the world's largest underground iron-ore mine is threatening to swallow Sweden's northernmost town, home to roughly 23,000, including members of the Sami Indigenous people, reports the AP. The church is set to reopen in its new location at the end of 2026.

• A gift: In 2001, the Swedish people voted the wooden church the "best building of all time, built before 1950" in a poll. Built on a hill so worshippers could overlook Kiruna, the Swedish Lutheran church, completed in 1912, was designed to emulate the Sami style as a gift from LKAB, the state-owned mining company. Its neo-Gothic exterior is considered the town's most distinctive building, and tourists regularly traveled there before it was closed a year ago to prepare for the relocation.

• The spectacle: This week's move has turned into a two-day highly choreographed media spectacle, run by LKAB and featuring an appearance by Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf. Musical performances will include a set from KAJ, Sweden's 2025 Eurovision entry. SVT, Sweden's national broadcaster, is livestreaming the move on both days, billing it as "The Great Church Walk."
• Origin: The move of Kiruna's town center, including the church, has been in the works since 2004. As the mine expanded deeper underground, residents began seeing cracks in buildings and roads. 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.
• Process: At approximately 131 feet wide, with a weight of 741 tons, the church required extra effort. Engineers widened a major road from 30 feet 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 on a trolley with 224 wheels 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 0.3mph and 0.9mph.

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