The Kiruna Church in Sweden is being wheeled away from its original location to avoid damage form an expanding mine. Photo by Fedrik Sandberg/EPA
An entire Swedish church is set to be relocated to avoid damage from the expansion an iron ore mine underneath it.
The 113-year-old Kiruna Church has been uprooted and placed on a trailer and is expected to travel for two days.
Residents have started seeing cracks in buildings and roads in nearby areas as the underground iron ore mine, the largest in the world, expanded. Officials have begun moving buildings to a safe distance from the mine.
The relocation of the church began with a ceremony, with large crowds watching as the structure rolled forward.
“It’s a big crowd. People came not just from Kiruna and other parts of Sweden. I heard many different languages being spoken,” said culture strategist Sofia Lagerlöf Mättää. “It’s like history taking place in front of our eyes.”
Project Manager Stefan Holmblad Johansson, said: “It’s a historic event, a very big and complex operation, and we don’t have a margin of error. But everything is under control.”
Swedish Law states that mining cannot take place under buildings.
“There’s no risk of people falling through cracks. But fissures would eventually damage the water, electricity, and sewage supply. People have to move before the infrastructure fails,” chief executive officer of Kiruna’s development company, Robert Ylitalo, explained.
One of the most delicate aspects in the church’s interior is its great altar painting made by prine Eugen.
“It’s glued directly onto a masonry wall, so it would have been difficult to remove without damage. So it will remain inside the church during the move, fully covered and stabilized. So will the organ with its 1,000 pipes,” said Johansson.
The Kiruna Church was voted as Sweden’s most beautiful pre-1950 building.
