Unlike the birds, the Protestant church of Kiruna has its migration in the middle of August. The red wooden building, located in the north of Sweden, began its migration to its new location on Tuesday. This is a symbolic step in the move of the city to allow the expansion of an iron mine.
Responsible on a special convoy – beams and two rows of trailers, Kiruna Kyrka, a Lutheran church inaugurated in 1912 and considered one of the most beautiful buildings in Sweden, moved very slowly – between 500 meters and 1 km/h until 3:50 p.m., more than an hour before the scheduled time, despite a short lunch break and frequent technical checks inside the church. Transport is scheduled to resume on Wednesday morning around 8 am (French time).
Dangerous turn
One of the most delicate aspects of this meticulously choreographed journey was the departure, the officials said. The convoy of 1,200 tonnes had to make a turn and descend a slight slope to reach the main road it was to take. In preparation, the ground around the church had been dug, allowing to place large yellow beams below so that the building can be raised on the trailers.
Throughout the journey Tuesday, workers in yellow vests and helmets were busy around the structure, taking measures and performing tests to ensure that everything was going as planned. “Hopefully tomorrow will be a health walk,” said LKAB director general Jan Moström, admitting that he was “a little worried about it”. This trip, which was blessed by the bishop Åsa Nyström and the priest Lena Tjärnberg, parish priest of Kiruna, is to end on Wednesday in the afternoon, in the presence of the King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf.
Digest
The whole downtown Kiruna is being relocated due to the exploitation of an immense deposit of iron ore by the LKAB group. As mining activities have extended, the objective being to dig ever deeper – the company extracted today 1,365 meters deep – the stability of the soil under Kiruna has weakened, increasing the risk of collapse in certain areas.
The moving site started almost twenty years ago, and should continue at least until 2035. The new city center was inaugurated in September 2022. The movement of the church, entirely funded by LKAB, should cost 500 million crowns (44.8 million euros). He attracted several thousand curious people.
An architectural jewel
40 meters wide and weighing 672 tonnes, the imposing building, designed by the Swedish architect Gustaf Wickman, mixes different architectural influences. Sami reasons of inspiration, Aboriginal people in the region, adorn the benches. Its singular silhouette is distinguished by a red neogothic exterior, where the roofs with pronounced slopes descend to the floor, large windows arranged on either side.
The dark interior has elements of national romantic style, as well as a art new art painted by Prince Eugène of Sweden (1865-1947), representing a landscape with pastel colors, inspired by its trips to Tuscany and in the South West of Sweden. Among the twenty-three cultural monuments already moved, the Church of Kiruna will be the most imposing, explains LKAB which qualifies the trip “unique event in world history”.
