After two days and 5 kilometers, Sweden’s landmark Kiruna Church arrived at its new location in Kiruna’s brand new city center on Wednesday afternoon, Reuters reports.
The 113-year-old church – one of Sweden’s largest wooden structures, often voted its most beautiful – had to move in order to make way for the expansion of the world’s largest underground iron ore mine.
But the work isn’t over yet. The next phase of the project involves stabilizing and permanently placing the church at the new site and restoring the surrounding areas. The bell tower is scheduled to be moved separately on August 26.
Inside the church, the altarpiece and organ — which were moved along with the building — will be inspected and restored as needed.
The aim is for the church to be back in use by late 2026 or early 2027. The move is part of a 30-year project to relocate thousands of people and buildings from the Lapland city.
